


Rewind and Replay

by Skelitzel



Series: Rewind [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Genocide Route, Guilt, Happy Ending, Heartbreak, Hurt/Comfort, Love, Magic, Memories, Neutral Route, Optional Smut, Premonitions, Regret, Sad Ending, Self-Sacrifice, Souls, Souls Resonating, Tragedy, alternate endings, first fanfic :), reset, shared magic, wrote multiple versions of chapter 13 so story can be kept fluffy if you prefer :)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-22
Updated: 2015-11-11
Packaged: 2018-04-27 13:15:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 43,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5050000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skelitzel/pseuds/Skelitzel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>First chapters start out a bit slow as I was trying to figure out how to put my day dreams into words. It gets better if you stay determined! In the current time line reader does not remember past timelines and has forgotten how to reset. As time passes they get flickers of memories that are...well...unpleasant. Eventually it's revealed Chara has stolen the reader's memories and is toying with them. </p>
<p>There's a whole lot of fluff and such and as love (not LV ;) ) between the reader grows with their friends they learn that they can share their souls' power. Then they remember everything and are overwhelmed with grief. sans realizes this and is unsure if he can trust them.</p>
<p>There are four different endings depending on what happened after the reset. Their themes are inspired by the types of endings you can get in the game (Neutral, Genocide, No Mercy, Pacifist). Each ending is a conclusion after what happened to the reader's memories and which ones were permanently deleted or remembered.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Humy the Human

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Treeni for helping me edit this!

“Ow ow ow,” You say rubbing your forehead. In hindsight attempting to adjust your fall probably would’ve been a good idea. Smacking face first into the dirt from who knows how many stories up wasn’t the best experience. Then again, it probably wouldn’t have ended any less painfully if you smacked some other limb or side of your skull on the ground. At least there were some pretty yellow flowers.

How are you not dead?

“Howdy!” You turn to the small voice you hear towards your left. A flower is smiling at you, “I’m Flowey. Flowey the flower!”

Ok, maybe you are dead. Or insane. Or insanely dead.

You stared at it for a few moments, blinking slowly. You were unsure how to respond. There was a creeping feeling running up your spine as the flower smiled at you. You decided that you didn’t want to piss it off.

The flower…sneered? How would it do that? Whatever, “You’re a little slow aren’t ya? This is the part where you introduce yourself.”

This flower is an asshole. Pushing yourself up, head still ringing, and dusting yourself off you reply curtly, “Well I’m Humy the Human. It’s been a displeasure to meet you. See ya.” 

You turn to start marching of…somewhere and here it giggle behind you.

“Such a shame. I was hoping to play with you for a bit, but we can do it your way,” Turning back to face the flower again you see its grin take on a more deadly glare. Spinning white bullets surrounded you in a circle. Shit. The flower started to cackle, “Now DIE!”

Your head jerks side to side looking for a way out. Double shit. There isn’t one. They start to move closer. Shit, shit. You lower your body to see if you could move underneath them. They move in closer and follow your body. Shit, shit, shit. You close your eyes and try to tune out the demon flower’s maniacal laughter.

Then you hear a 'whoosh' like the sound of a gas burner igniting and then a squeak of pain. The whir of death pellets has subsided. Not quite willing to believe the weed is gone, you slowly peek one eye open and see a large goat lady smiling at you.

Oh, great. It’s Goaty the Goat.

“What an awful creature. Are you alright my child?” She asked in a motherly tone.

You squinted at her, still a little guarded. “Yeah I’m fine.”

She sighed with relief, “Good, that is good. You seem to be a little lost my child. My name is Toriel,” You’re slightly disappointed it’s not Goaty, “You’ve fallen into the Underground where monsters live. Please come with me,” She waves her hand and a doorway opens. 

You decide you may as well follow, glaring at the flowers distrustfully. She explains as she walks, “Most monsters are friendly, but you will need to learn how to handle confrontation. Not everything need be handled with combat or violence. Often times you can resolve issues by communicating. Here, talk to this dummy as practice.”

“Sure…”

* * *

“Here, my child, follow me,” She takes your hand and leads you down the hallway. Stopping in front of the first door she smiles a little sheepishly and ruffles your hair, “This will be your room. Make yourself at home,” A slightly burnt smell wafts in from the kitchen. She straightens up, “I’ll-uh-be right back,” She says quickly running to the kitchen.

She’s friendly but a little creepy. You cautiously enter the room and see toys on the ground and shoes in the corner. Okay positive thinking here. She definitely does not cook kids and eat them. She was just friendly and helped lost humans find their way back to the surface. Yeah that’s it. Somehow, even though your heart didn’t want to believe it, somewhere in your mind you knew that was true.

Reflexively you went to the dresser. It was almost as if you knew something would be there. A glint of silver caught your eye and you snatched it up and shoved it in your pocket. You were not sure why you grabbed it, but it could be useful later. Suddenly exhaustion seemed to hit you and the bed was calling your name. Maybe there was time for a quick nap before heading on your long journey home.

Just a quick nap.

You probably won’t even fall asleep…

Just lay down and rest your eyes for a moment….

You weren’t really that tired…..

Zzzzz…...

 

The sweet scents of cinnamon laced with butterscotch filled your nose and woke you from your slumber. A cover had been pulled up to your chin. Scrubbing the sleep from your eyes you groggily got out of bed and picked up a slice of pie that had been left on a plate by the bed. Searching the room, you found a small cardboard box and put the pie in there. Some unexplained feeling told you that you may need it later. It was not entirely clear where those 'senses' were coming from, but with a shrug you decided it couldn’t hurt to follow them. It's not as if you had anything else to go by.

Speaking of… you also had a feeling Toriel wouldn’t be happy that you wanted to leave. Drawing in a shaky breath, you found that your desire to return home filled you with determination. With the pie box in hand, you made your way to the living room.

Your senses were spot on.

She was not at all happy that you wanted to leave. In fact, she made you feel a little guilty and ungrateful to her kindness. Realistically, there just wasn’t a way you could stay here in the ruins for the rest of your life. You had friends, and a family to get back to. At least you assumed you did. Strangely the senses that told you to do certain things didn’t seem to feel like chiming in with memories of your life up above. All you could remember was falling down.

Snapping out of your mental world, you saw Toriel run out of the room. “Toriel wait!” You reached out your hand as if to stop her, but she was gone. Panicking at her reaction, you chased after her.

“Toriel!” You shouted again as she made her way down the stairs.

“Toriel wait!” The hallway was dark and creepy.

She hesitated, “You wish to know how to return home do you not? Ahead of us lies the end of the ruins. A one-way exit to the rest of the underground. I’m going to destroy it. No one will ever be able to leave again. Now be a good child and go upstairs,"

She decisively continues forward.

“Hold on Toriel, please.”

She hesitates again, her voice catching in her throat, “Every human that falls down here meets the same fate. I’ve seen it again and again. They come. They leave. They die. You’re naive. If you leave. They will kill you.”

She choked down another sob and continued further.

“But you told me that conflict could be resolved peacefully. Toriel I don’t understand!” Panic started to rise in your voice.

She hesitated one final time, the sadness in her voice now gone. She firmly stated, “Don’t try to stop me. This is your final warning,” before quickly making her way to a large door at the end of the hall.

Your heart fluttered in your chest. This felt sad and…familiar. Toriel finally turned to face you with a determined look, “You won’t turn back will you? Fine. Then prove to me you can make it on your own,” She waved her hand and fireballs appeared around you. Yes, this feels familiar. Your desire to end this battle peacefully filled you with determination.

“I won’t fight you Toriel,” You stood your ground. She drew in a shaky breath and fireballs were headed your way. They were easily avoided by stepping to the side.

“Toriel, I know you don’t want to fight me either,” More fireballs. This time a step to the right.

You smile, “You’re very kind Toriel, and if things were different I’d be happy to stay with you,” The fireballs were a little shaky now, but zigzagging through them was pretty easy.

“But you know I have to go,” This time, feeling confident, you held your ground. The fireballs were headed right for you. Standing firmly, you folded your arms and stared them down. In the last second they diverted to either side of you, the heat only slightly singeing your arms.

Toriel waved her hand and sighed in defeat. The fireballs disappeared. 

“You’re right my child. It’d be wrong of me to make you stay. The ruins are too small for you to grow up in,” She looked like she was about to cry.

“Toriel come here,” You held out your arms for a hug which she gratefully accepted with a choked sob. You stayed there for a moment, feeling a warm nostalgia as her motherly love embraced you.

After a little while, she let you go and wiped a tear from her eye. Smiling sadly she said, “You may go, but please don’t come back.”

That stung, but you understood. Holding back tears of your own you said, “Thank you Toriel. I won’t forget you.”

The door slowly creaked open and you ran through. It shut with a loud clang behind you. This is it. Snow swirled around you, but the chill in your heart wasn’t from the cold. Resting your palm back at the door, you closed your eyes. There really is no going back now. You turned forward and clenched a fist. Watching the breeze lazily swirl flurries along the ground fills you with determination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Humy is not the actual name of the character :) I decided to keep it nameless. You can interpret it as Frisk or another human or as you.


	2. Gotcha

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eventually I'll explain more of my ideas but for now I'm trying to keep it vague. Basically for now the reader is faintly aware of things occurring before and how to respond, but they don't know where these feelings are coming from.

You gaze at the snowy path before you, deciding whether or not the fact that it looks well trodden is a good sign or bad one. Opting for positive thinking, you slowly make your way down the path with pie box in hand. After a few feet you stick the box in your sweater to free your hands in the event that you possibly slip and fall on your butt 27 times.

Fortunately, the snow crunching underneath your feet lacked hidden ice traps, at least none that you encountered. You started humming a happy tune as you hopped over a small twig in the path. The twig made you remember the silver thing you had taken from Toriel’s house. You patted your pocket to make sure you didn't loose it dodging fire balls. Good, it’s still there.

Walking a few more feet you hear a twig snapping behind you. Whipping around with your heart in your throat you hold up your arms ready to karate chop the twig-snapper. Ha, luckily for them your kung-fu skills intimidated the stalker because no one was behind you. Feeling a little confident, you turn back and march down the path. The breeze blew a chuckle against your back. Confidence now wavered.

Walking a little faster this time, you squeak out in fear when you see a shadow between the trees. Kung-fu grip activated! You chopped the chuckling air a few times for good measure. That’ll show the…air…yeah. You were totally too tough for them. They wouldn't even show their face in your presence! You hurriedly make your way to the bridge. The breeze chuckled louder. Well, screw you too Wind.

Reaching the bridge you suddenly couldn’t move. You hear crunching steps behind you and your heart thuds to the rhythm of the steps. Is this the end?! Crunch. Thud. Crunch. Thud. Why can’t you move?! Crunch. Thud. Crunch. Thud. Giggling wind? I’m sorry I was so mean to you. I would really rather have you instead of crunchy snow.

The crunching got louder and louder until it stopped right behind you. You hear breathing. Oh God. Maybe it’s a Froggit? They were pretty cute and easy to talk to. The crunching was a lot heavier than a Froggit though. Your shoulders shook and you tried to step forward or turn around or at least do something, but to no avail. You’re stuck. However, you remember the silver trinket in your pocket. Your arms still work and you’re able to grab it and hold it in your right hand.

“Don‘t you know how to greet a new pal?" The voice whispers slowly, sending a chill down your spine. “Turn around and shake my hand.” 

Suddenly the atmosphere around your body lifted and you can roll your shoulders and move your feet again. You slowly turn around to face a shadowy figure with its left appendage extended.

Something about this stocky form made you feel a little better. You grinned and extended your right hand. “Of course, how rude of me. Put ‘er there buddy!”

The form seemed taken aback and slowly retracted its left appendage and switched for the right. You tried to not grin too widely and give away your secret. Holding your right hand out patiently waiting for you unsuspecting target to grasp your hand. Cold, boney, fingers entwined themselves around yours.

ZAP!!

The hand jerked back and a confused skeleton’s face came into view. You started giggling like mad. You had to clutch your sides just to keep upright.

“wh-what the?” The poor skeleton’s confused smile caused you to laugh harder.

Hiccuping and wiping a tear from your eye, “I-I’m sorry. It’s just. The look on your face-“ You snickered again before finally regaining your composure. Straightening up, you held up your right hand and pointed to the joy buzzer attached to your ring finger. “Ha the prankster has become the prankee! I got you so good!” You put your hands on your hips feeling mighty proud of yourself.

The lights in his eye sockets dimmed a little, “how did you know i was going to prank you?” He whispered.

Oh. You hadn’t thought of that, “U-um call it intuition? Great minds think alike?”

The lights in his eyes seemed to brighten just a little bit before he scratched the back of his head, “ah, well i guess i can’t be mad over that. my name is sans. nice to meet you,” He still seemed a little down about his trick failing.

You felt bad. You hated it when your pranks didn’t work either. Wanting to cheer him up, you remembered the pie box tucked in your sweater. You offered it to him, “W-want a piece of pie? Your friend behind the door made it. It’s pretty good…” You smiled weakly.

The lights in his eye sockets went dark. His body stiffened. Uh oh. Is he suddenly dead? Well I mean he’s a skeleton. Was he dead before that?

His voice sounded a little strangled in his throat, “how did you know that?”

That’s a very good question actually. How did you know that?

“I... How do I know that?” You whispered looking down at the box. Nice one. What’s the point of internal commentary if you basically just blurt out what you’re thinking anyway?

You could lie and say Toriel told you about him. No. Those pitch black eye sockets wouldn’t buy that. You could play it off and say you thought all monsters were friends. Was that racist? Er, speciesist? The hollow pits of his eye sockets bore holes in your slightly panic induced mind. Nervously, you start to back away, intending to cross the bridge. You overstep however, missing the wood panel and feel yourself begin to fall.

A hand shoots out and grabs your arm. The lights in his sockets were back on. A long, loud farting sound echoed down the chasm beneath you as you were pulled back up. Steadying you in front of him the skeleton chuckled, “well. you ruined my prank, but it was still kinda funny.” He looked at you sideways, “it’s been a real gas meeting you,” Peeling off the whoopee cushion off his hand and shoving it in his pocket, his smile seemed a little more genuine now.

You rolled your eyes, but somehow the pun filled you with a familiar sense of camaraderie, “That was terrible.”

“still got you to smile, kid,” That was true, “c'mon we’re going to get chilled to the bone standing out here. normally, i’m supposed to be on the look out for humans, but i don’t feel like workin’ today. let’s head across the bridge. the fence my brother built can’t keep anyone out.”

It felt easy conversing with the short skeleton. Even as he explained that he and his brother, Papyrus, patrolled the forest before this town called Snowdin and built puzzles. Well, by the sound of it Papyrus patrolled and built the puzzles while sans found somewhere to nap or play pranks. Even as he told you about Papyrus’ desire to capture a human so he could became a member of the Royal Guard you still 'sensed' that you could trust this skeleton when he assured you that Papyrus wouldn’t hurt you. He stopped near a weird shaped lamp.

“speaking of my brother, you should probably hide behind that conveniently shaped lamp over there. he’s probably on his way over now.” He somehow gave you a little wink without eye lids. You shrug, still feeling a little guilty about ruining his first prank so you decide to play along.

Shortly after, you catch a glimpse of a taller skeleton wearing some kind of orange armor, “SANS!” it yells. Ah that must be Papyrus. sans did say he was a little…excitable. You listen to their banter back and forth, chuckling quietly at sans’ puns. Skele-ton. That was a good one. Afterward it seems like they were about finished.

“sounds like you’re really working yourself down to the bone.”

The lamp snickers again.

“UGH!! I WILL ATTEND TO MY PUZZLES…AND AS FOR YOUR WORK? PUT A LITTLE MORE BACKBONE INTO IT! NYEHEHEHEHE” Papyrus looked pretty proud of himself and marched off. He came back a few seconds later, ”AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT WEIRD GIGGLING LAMP. NYEH HEH HEH”

“alright, looks like he’s gone now.”

You inch around the lamp, brushing snow off your knees. “Your brother seems pretty sweet.”

Sans shrugged not responding. Alright, you guess that means it was your time to go. You head off in the direction of Papyrus’ footprints, assuming they would eventually lead you to Snowdin.

“hey”

You turn back to sans, “Hm?”

He looks away shyly and kicks some snow in front of him. “my brother’s never seen a human before and he works hard on his puzzles. if you don’t mind, it’d mean a lot if you played along with him.”

You grinned, “Sounds like fun, although to be honest I still can’t tell if I’m dreaming or not.”

The lights in his eyes faded to black again, “oh it’s very real.” You shivered, and his smile widened, “not trying tibia bad guy, but you could relax a little,” The lights in his eyes flashed and he turned his back to you, “see ya later, kid. i’m taking a shortcut.”


	3. And Now Dog Soldiers?

You continue across the snowy mountain, chuckling to yourself as snowdrakes greet you with silly puns and ice caps flaunt their style. This place wasn’t so bad. You remember old stories and legends of monsters taught in school. They always said monsters were evil, terrible creatures, that would steal your soul and hurt everyone you cared about. Everyone on the surface hated monsters but no one believed the myth. To be honest, you hadn’t believed the myths either.

But you loved the stories your grandma used to tell you.

“Our ancestors used to work alongside monsters long long ago before the war.” She would smile, “I of course never experienced it myself but my grandma used to share stories of her grandparent's grandparents when I was younger." She would always chuckle when I'd get cross-eyed thinking about all the generations. "It sounded like such a wonderful time to be alive. The monsters taught humans love and compassion and the humans fought to protect their friends and showed them how to build villages. If only I could’ve seen it myself.” I would always remember how sad she would look as she whispered to herself, "But those times are long over."

You smiled at the memory. If only your grandma could see where you were now. Trying to not blow your cover and holding still while a dog that didn’t seem to be able to see very well threw blue swords at your direction. After a few painful whacks you had learned that holding still allowed them to phase through your body. You snuck behind him to scratch behind his ears and he collapsed onto the ground with his tail wagging wildly. You snickered at the pup and patted him on the head. The poor thing still couldn’t seem to figure out where the pets were coming from, and you didn’t want to cause him stress so you decided to move one. 

At this point you weren’t really paying attention to where you were going. The forest didn’t seem so scary anymore and you were too distracted trying to figure out how it snowed underground that you didn’t see the rock in your path.

“Oof!” Mouth full of snow. Yum.

You hear skeletal chatter and brush snow out of your eyes. sans is looking right at you with that big stupid grin on his face. “hey, bro, what’s that over there?” You stuck your tongue at him and his dopey grin didn’t seem like it could get any wider. But it did.

“HM?” Papyrus snaps his head back and forth between you and sans. Faster and faster until he gets a little wobbly, “I'M DIZZY. WHAT AM I LOOKING AT?" Oh yeah, little known fact about humans. When they face plant in snow they become invisible. The trick only works on skeletons though. You smack your hand on your forehead.

“oh, it looks like there's a rock on the ground over there."

"AH RIGHT YOU ARE DEAR BROTHER!"

"hey what's that in front of the rock?"

Finally Papyrus' eye sockets focused on you. You give him a shy wave as you sit up. You hear his jaw crack open in shock. "I-IS TH-THAT A HUMAN?!"

"ya i think so."

"OH. MY. GOD!! SANS IT'S A HUMAN!"

"whoa that's crazy."

"HUMAN! WHILE I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, APPRECIATE YOUR GROVELING, DO NOT THINK THAT WILL GET YOU OUT OF THE PUZZLES I HAVE PLANNED FOR YOU!" He struck his fist against his sternum, "MY GREATNESS CAN BE OVERWHELMING BUT FEAR NOT HUMAN! I WILL BE WAITING FOR YOU!"

You sigh as he runs off again. Sans causally strolls to you and offers a hand to help you up. You eye it suspiciously. He chuckles, "relax there's no whoopee cushion this time."

You roll your eyes and take his hand and he helps you up. Dusting the snow as best you can off your jeans yet again you try to ignore his hand that lingers on your shoulder. He watches you thoughtfully as he lets his hand run down your back and fall at his side.

"What?" You smirk at him, snapping him out of his daze. 

"nothing just think it's pretty rad-ius of ya to make my bro so happy."

You groan, "Oh come on sans that pun doesn't even work. The word isn't pronounced the same way."

"you're right. i guess that one wasn't very humerus." He laughed as you shoved him playfully. 

"Oh shut up sans." Your heart skips again when your fingers touch his clavicle. That's weird. He's just a short funny skeleton you met a few moments ago. You can not seriously be crushing on a skeleton. Can you? Shaking your head and clearing your throat you ask "So any tips on these puzzles coming up?"

"nope sorry kid you'll have to figure that out on your own." He winks, "but maybe if you suck I'll throw you a bone."

You just roll your eyes and watch his back as he leaves to follow his brother. He pauses again, "well i guess i could warn you about one thing." His voice took on a serious tone. 

"What's that?"

"greater dog."

"Huh? Another dog? That doesn't seem so scary."

You watch his shoulders shake as he laughs. "yeah you're probably right. what could be scary about a small dog in a giant mechanized suit of armor with a spear? see ya later kid." And then he was gone. 

He's bluffing. A cyborg dog? Come on now that has to be a bluff. Shaking your head as you walk you keep your eye out for any giant robot dogs.

You weren't expecting a little white furball to pop out of the snow. The cute little dog yipped at you and you felt like an idiot for falling for sans prank. And then it stood up. The little dog looked comical in a 12 foot suit of his armor and his tiny head poking out the top. He wagged his tail excitedly and stamped his spear on the ground. You gulped and smiled trying to not to startle him. He's still a dog though. Sort of. 

"H-hey there big guy. Wanna um play?"

Greater Dog almost flattened you when you beckoned him closer. You yelped at first and covered your eyes but peeking through your fingers you saw him waiting patiently for your next move. You laughed with relief and chucked a snowball for him. He wandered around he field trying to find it, sticking his muzzle in piles of snow and sneezing as frozen flakes filled his nose. Seeming a little frustrated he determinedly ran back and forth piling all the snow in the field in front of your feet. After he had a mound about 10 feet high he stopped and collapsed at your side. You scratched behind his ears and he wagged his tail happily. “You’re such a good dog! Tough little soldier aren’t you?” He wagged his tail harder he jumped out of his suit to lick you on the face. “Ew.” You giggled, wiping the slobber off your face, and gave him a little kiss on the head. He yipped happily and returned to the suit. It started walking away with him still upside down.

You almost forgot about the skeletons until you found Papyrus and sans standing on the other side of suspiciously empty square.

“HUMAN!! IT’S ABOUT TIME YOU GOT HERE!” 

“yeah we’re freezing our asses off out here.”

“UGH SANS! NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR YOUR PUNS.” Papyrus grumbled.

“ah come on bro, no need to be temporal-mental.”

You chuckle and Papyrus yells, “DON’T ENCOURAGE HIM HUMAN OR IT’LL NEVER END.”

“S-Sorry.” you squeak between snickers and sans looks at you, lights gleaming. You feel yourself blushing just a bit.

“ENOUGH. HUMAN! I THE GREAT PAPYRUS AM GOING TO CAPTURE YOU! YOU’LL NEVER MAKE IT PASSED MY PUZZLE. IT’S AN INVISIBLE, ELECTRICAL MAZE! NYEH HEH HEH”

“Oh really? That's pretty cool.” You reach out a shaky hand to try touching an unseen wall but only felt empty air. A crack of electricity broke through the air and you snatched your hand to your chest.

“OW! SANS! WHAT HAPPENED?!” Papyrus shouted, a little wisp of smoke wafting off his skull. 

“i think you’re supposed to give the orb to the human first.”

“OH RIGHT. WAIT THERE HUMAN!” Papyrus carefully made his way through the maze and handed you the orb and quickly retreated to the other side. “ALRIGHT NOW YOU MAY BEGIN!”

Drumming your fingers on the orb your eyes flicked from Papyrus to the tracks in the snow and back to him again. You raised an eyebrow at sans. He has to be kidding right. sans just shrugged and shook his head as if to say, what can you do?

“NYEH HEH HEH I SEE MY PUZZLES HAVE INTIMIDATED YOU HUMAN. NOT TO WORRY PAPYRUS IS HAPPY TO WAIT FOR YOU UNTIL YOU FEEL CONFIDENT. I HAVE FAITH IN YOU!!”

You grin at Papyrus, “Thanks for the pep talk Paps, I think I’m ready.” Trying to not make it appear completely obvious that you’re following his tracks you make the way through the maze, hesitating now and then as if trying to decide where to turn. Once to the other side you threw your arms up in the air in a victory pose.

Papyrus sputtered, “N-NICKNAMES?! AND YOU DEFEATED MY PUZZLE?! YOU, HUMAN, ARE A LOT SHARPER THAN I ANTICIPATED! BUT YOU WILL NOT BEAT MY NEXT PUZZLE!” He ran off with his cape flapping behind him.

“Here I was going to give this back but he ran off to fast.” You handed the orb to sans.

“Paps huh?” He grinned gleefully as he took the orb, the coolness of his phalanges bumping your fingers sending a jolt of heat to your face.

“Jealous? I can give you a nickname too.” You said with a wink.

He nodded knowingly, “that’s true.”

“What?”

“nothing.” He smiled smugly, “better get going, my brother’s waiting for ya.” He shoved the orb in his jacket pocket as he walked away. Stopping for a moment, turning his head to the side, but not quite looking at you. “and, uh, thanks for going along with the puzzles. he’s waited ages to meet a human. it’s nice to see him happy.” With a blink he was gone.


	4. Word Puzzles Suck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so grateful so many people have taken their time to read my story! Thank you so much everyone :) I'm going to keep writing and adding tags as the story continues! Leave a comment and let me know what you think. I'm trying to keep the story vague but I'll do my best to respond to comments/questions too ;)

You continued on your own, shaking your head and mentally reprimanding yourself. You have to focus. This isn’t the time for one of your weird crushes. All the monsters you’ve met have been nice and fun, but you’re a human. It’s not like you could stay here and be friends with them. Could you?

You didn’t see much of the skeleton brothers as you continued through more puzzles. The dog couple made you feel a little awkward since they couldn’t seem to stop their make out session long enough to fight you seriously. Which was probably a good thing. They were a lot more skilled with their weapons than Greater Dog had been. Fortunately you had fallen down so many times that they just thought you were some weird lost puppy. Eventually, after lots of ear scratches, they let you go. Smiling to yourself you carried on.

The X and O puzzle was pretty straight forward too. You instinctively walked around and tap each X with your foot and stomp the switch. Easy. The spikes sink into the ground and you head to cross, jumping over the holes in the ground just for good measure.

There’s a table in the distance. Excitedly you quicken your pace. Tables mean food! You haven’t eaten for a while, and you still have the slice of slightly smooshed pie tucked in your sweater but you wanted to save that for later. On the table is a plate of spaghetti. Odd choice but alright. You pick up the note and laughed quietly. Oh Papyrus that lovable goofball. You set the note on the table, and turn to the spaghetti. This definitely wasn’t a trap you minded falling for. You reach to pick up the fork, but it was unexpectedly a lot heavier than you planned. With one more heave you concluded the fork, as well as the spaghetti and table, were unified into a trinity of frozen mockery meant to taunt you with promises of meals that would never come. You sighed and glanced at the microwave. There was no where to plug it in, but at least you knew Papyrus hadn’t intended to leave you hungry.

Walking a little slower, slightly disheartened after losing to spaghetti, you perk up a little when you see the skeleton brothers. 

“HUMAN! IT’S ABOUT TIME YOU GOT HERE!”

“yeah we’re starting to waste away over here.”

Papyrus groaned but chose to ignore sans, “HUMAN! THIS PUZZLE IS MY BROTHER’S. HE IS VERY SKILLED. EVEN I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO SOLVE IT!” He paused and looked around, “UH, SANS? WHERE IS THE PUZZLE?”

“on the ground. right there.” he looked at you and winked.

Shrugging, you walked up and picked up the paper. It’s a word search. After scanning it for a few seconds you’ve already found all the words. One of the words was just gibberish from the first line. Confused you mumble, “Um. This is great…but…I don’t have a pencil…”

sans laughed and Papyrus stomped his foot on the ground, “SANS!! HOW IS THE HUMAN SUPPOSED TO COMPLETE THE PUZZLE WITHOUT A PENCIL?!”

sans just shrugged, “i guess i didn’t think about that. i’m such a numbskull.”

You grin, “Wait I have an idea! I’ll mark the words with snow!”

Papyrus’ eye sockets gleamed, “SUCH A SMART IDEA HUMAN! SANS YOU SHOULD PAY ATTENTION, YOU COULD LEARN A THING OR TWO ABOUT PUZZLES.”

“aye, aye cap’n.”

You set the paper on the ground and grab a handful of snow and plop it on the paper. Wiping off your hands, satisfied, “There. Done.”

Papyrus’ stared at you slack jawed and sans’ shoulders were shaking as he was trying hard not to burst out laughing. Regaining his composure, Papyrus stomped his foot again, “SANS! THIS WOULDN’T HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU HAD JUST USED THE JUNIOR JUMBLE!”

“but that’s for baby bones bro. the crossword probably would’ve kept them occupied.”

“BUT CROSSWORDS ARE SO EASY! I JUST FILL ALL THE SPACES WITH Z BECAUSE THEY PUT ME TO SLEEP!”

You snicker again.

“GIGGLING HUMAN! YOU MUST SETTLE THIS! WHICH IS HARDER? JUNIOR JUMBLE OR CROSSWORDS?”

“Um…both? I’m not really very good at word puzzles.” you say shyly.

Both skeletons stare at you. Papyrus with pity, and sans with gratitude. “HUMAN YOU ARE VERY STRONG TO ADMIT YOUR WEAKNESSES. DON’T WORRY! MY NEXT PUZZLE HAS NO WORDS! JUST A LOT OF RULES!” He chuckled excitedly as he clapped his hands and ran off once more.

You stroll up to sans and grin.

“thanks for that. he’s having a blast.”

“I am too.”

He looked at you with an odd gleam in his sockets, “You’re not really bad at word puzzles are you?”

You shrug, caught in your lie, “Not really but Paps doesn’t need to know that. Keep my secret?”

“yeah i suppose i could keep one more.”

“Huh?”

“nothing. i’ll see ya at the next puzzle.” he turned to leave, lights in his eyes no longer focused on you, and hands jammed in his pockets.

“Why do you keep doing that?” you say with a frown.

“Well I gotta get there somehow. Can’t just stand around and wait to turn into a bone-sicle.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

He looked over his shoulder and smirked, “Sorry, kid. You’ll have to be more specific then.”

You reached out a hand to stop him, but a cold breeze blew in your face and you sneezed. When you opened your eyes again, he was gone. Dammit.

Frustrated you followed after Papyrus’ tracks and noticed that sans’ tracks stopped short of where you last saw him. How did he do that? 

Luckily you were able to find them again pretty quickly. They stood in front of a grayscale tile floor. sans’ eyes seemed empty and he stared down at his slippers. You wanted to say something. Cheer him up. Ask him what’s wrong. You opened your mouth to speak, “sans-“

“HUMAN! ARE YOU READY?” Papyrus shouted eagerly.

Guess that’ll have to wait. You’ll make him talk later. Filled with determination, you turned to Papyrus, “Yeah let’s do this.”

“EXCELLENT! NOW PAY ATTENTION! THERE ARE A LOT OF RULES AND I’LL ONLY SAY THEM ONCE!”

“Ok.”

“DON’T INTERRUPT! FIRST THE TILES WILL CHANGE TO COLORS AND EACH COLOR HAS A DIFFERENT FUNCTION. THE GREEN TILES WILL SUMMON A MONSTER. BLUE TILES ARE WATER. YOU CAN SWIM THROUGH THEM. BUT IF YOU STEP ON AN ORANGE TILE FIRST THE PIRANHAS WILL BITE YOU BECAUSE IT MAKES YOU SMELL LIKE ORANGES. SO IF YOU STEP ON AN ORANGE TILE I SUGGEST TRYING TO FIND A PURPLE TILE BECAUSE IT’LL MAKE YOU SMELL LIKE LEMONS AND THEY DON’T LIKE LEMONS. PURPLE IS ALSO SLIPPERY AND WILL PUSH YOU INTO THE NEXT TILE. THERE ARE ALSO PINK, RED, YELLOW…”

Your vision starts to blur. Is it possible to become colorblind by listening to these rules?

“GOT ALL THAT?”

“Uh…sure?”

“IF YOU NEED A MOMENT TO PREPARE I CAN WAIT.”

“No, no I got it.” You say hopping from foot to foot to psyche yourself up. It can’t be too bad. Pink was good you think. Even if it wasn’t, the puzzles before hadn’t been too difficult. You can figure it out as you go along. “Alright Paps, lay it on me.”

He sputtered at his nickname again and your confidence increased just a touch. “O-ONE MORE THING. THE PUZZLE…IS COMPLETELY RANDOM! EVEN I WILL NOT KNOW THE SOLUTION! NYEH HEH HEH!” and with that he flipped the switch.

You watch the colors flash and change before your eyes faster and faster until you felt a wave of vertigo. You close your eyes and press the heels of your palms into your eyes, waiting for the nausea to pass. With a ding the puzzle finally generated, and you tentatively peeked to see what horrific rainbow barf awaited you.

You looked at the puzzle. Then Papyrus. Then sans. Then the puzzle and back to Papyrus. Papyrus’ jaw was hanging open in utter confusion. Without a word, which is totally out of character, he stiffly spun and walked away. sans didn’t even seem to notice him leaving; his sockets still hollowly staring at the ground.

The puzzle was just pink and red tiles. You cautiously tap your foot on the pink tile, flinching and waiting for something terrible to happen. Nothing did. You sighed with relief and followed the path to the other side, stopping in front of sans.

“S-Sans?”

He jumps, snapping out of his reverie. His smile not quite reaching his eyes, “nice one, kid. i didn’t even have to pa-tell-a you a hint.” His laugh sounded a little forced, and the lights in his eyes were little pinpricks.

“Are you ok?”

The pinpricks died. “i’m fine.” He didn’t even turn away this time, but when you blinked he was gone yet again.

You bit the inside of your cheek, feeling like there was something you should know but your mind just couldn’t grasp it.


	5. Don't Go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my goodness! Thank you so much everyone for the support! I'll update as frequently as I can for you guys! This chapter is a little shorter, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to update again over the weekend so here you go :) and if I can update more this weekend then even more yay!

You tugged on the ends of your sleeves until they reached over your hands and cupped them over your mouth. You exhale, attempting to thaw out your fingers and nose, as you shiver down a long, narrow, not very trustworthy bridge. Looking down you wonder if sans would catch you again if you fell. The bridge sways in the wind and your heart drops to your boots. Let’s not think about falling.

About halfway across the bridge you spot your two favorite skeletons (not much competition so far). Sighing with relief you wobble your way a few steps closer, trying to catch an eye(socket?) from sans. He was still off in la-la land.

“HUMAN!” Papyrus exclaimed, “BEHOLD! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE CREATED ONE FINAL, DEADLY DANGEROUS CHALLENGE FOR YOU!”

“I thought you called them puzzles.”

“HAVE YOU LEARNED NOTHING? DON’T INTERRUPT! IT’S RUDE!” He actually did seem a little hurt.

“I’m sorry Paps, please continue.”

You felt terrible, well not really, but you loved how he got flustered without fail each time you said his nickname. He stammered, “A-AS I WAS SAYING…THIS IS THE GAUNTLET OF DEADLY TERROR!”

Various weapons lower and raise to surround the bridge. You let out a low whistle and Papyrus glares at you. “What? I whistled. That doesn’t count as talking or interrupting.” You folded your arms, “Now you’re just interrupting yourself because you’re glaring at me instead of finishing your speech.” Satisfied you shoot a triumphant smile to sans who, finally, has snapped out of his day dream and returns it with a shy grin.

“TH-THAT’S ENOUGH HUMAN! UGH YOU’RE WORSE THAN SANS! ANYWAY, WHEN I SAY THE WORD THE TRAP WILL ACTIVATE. CANNONS WILL FIRE! SPIKES WILL SWING! THE DOG WILL…UH I’M NOT REALLY SURE WHY THE DOG IS THERE. BUT! STILL! ONLY A SMALL CHANCE OF VICTORY WILL REMAIN! GET READY BECAUSE I! AM! ABOUT! TO DO IT!!”

You glance up at the poor white dog swaying to and fro on the rope, wagging it’s tail with a dopey look on it’s face. At least it looks happy.

After a few more moments of awkward silence, sans finally chimes in and yawns. “well? what are you waiting for?”

“WAITING? WHO’S WAITING? I’M GOING TO ACTIVATE IT!” Papyrus look visibly troubled. His eye sockets narrowed and you could almost see the internal battle in his, uh, brain cavity. The lights in his eyes flickered between you and the various weapons around you.

“that, uh, doesn’t really look activated.”  
Papyrus looked distressed now and he kicked at the snow, “WELL MAYBE THIS IS A LITTLE TO EASY TO BEAT THE HUMAN WITH…ER…I MEAN IT’S TOO STRAIGHTFORWARD. WE CAN’T USE THIS ONE! I HAVE STANDARDS.” He waved his arms, “AWAY IT GOES. STOP SMILING AT ME HUMAN!!” 

You and sans watch his retreating form in easy silence. After you can’t see him anymore, you turn to sans and open your mouth to speak, but then think better of it and continue forward. Well, you try to.

A boney hand shoots out and wraps around your wrist. The cold makes you jump, and you turn to face him again. The lights in his eyes were dim, carrying a sadness you couldn’t fathom, as he stared at his hand on your wrist.

“you’ll have to fight my brother soon.”

You gulp. You adored that goof, but fighting him wasn’t in the top 100,000 of your to do list. “Do I really have to? I’d rather move on and avoid fighting.”

sans nodded slowly, eyes still on your wrist. Thumb tracing slow circles, he whispers, “he’s my brother, and he’s strong but he doesn’t intend to hurt you. just…remember that. ok?” the sorrowful lights now looking straight at you.

“Ok sans.” The air felt heavy and your heart was pounding, slightly confused by his request. His hand dropped your arms and returned to his pockets.

He tilted his skull up, jaw cracked open in a sigh of relief, like a weight had been lifted from him. “if you need it, i can try to help you.” 

You smack him on the arm, “What? You have that little faith in me? What happened to being Mr. Lazybones?”

His skull tilted back down to you, the lights in his eyes a little brighter. A little happier. “i do like to do nothing but i also can’t tell a fib-ula.” He shrugged, “you’ll get creamed without my help, kid.”

You smirk, “I think helping the human fight against your brother counts as some kind of cheating.”

His laughter came a little easier that time, “yeah you’re probably right. have it your way then, kid.”

Happy that he seemed to cheer up at least a little bit, you turn to leave. You hear his voice sound a little strained at your back, “there is another option though…” You glance back at him, but he won’t meet your eyes. “you don’t have to fight him.”

Figuring he’s just pulling your leg or setting you up, you decide to play along. “But you just said I had to fight him.”

He didn’t say anything for a minute. The silence unnerved you. He still refused to meet your eyes.  
In a choked whisper he said again, “you don’t have to fight him.”

You blinked. He disappeared. A breath of air brushed against your cheek, “you don’t have to go.”


	6. Finally in Snowdin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so I said I might be able to post but I was wrong :) I've been working on this before work and during breaks haha and I'm sure me thanking you guys over and over is getting annoying but you have no idea how much your support means to me! I can't stop writing for you guys XD

Walking towards the town with your hand still on your cheek, suddenly the air didn’t seem so cold.

You don’t have to go…don’t have to…don’t go…

You shook your head rapidly, trying to remove the echoes from your mind. You have to focus. You can’t get flustered over a mysterious skeleton. You walk up to the sign and it reads: Welcome to Snowdin! You smile, wondering if sans made up the name. No. Stop it. You lightly smack your cheeks. Don’t think about him. If anything, you should be worrying about his brother. Ha, you naughty two timer you. Ok for real, stop it now.

Some monsters were staring at you slightly concerned as you glared at their town’s sign in the midst of your internal conversation. You giggle nervously and waved, hoping to not appear completely insane. One of the rabbit monsters hid her child behind her. He peeked around her leg, looking up curiously at you.

Snowdin was a quaint, adorable little town. Everyone was surprisingly nice and welcoming toward you, despite awkward first impressions. The shop lady even gave you a cinnabunny for free after you were distraught that you didn’t have enough money. Although, it probably would’ve been better for her business to have you out of there as soon as possible so you didn’t sit there and drool hungrily over her pastries and frighten away paying customers. Still, taking a munch of the cinnamon treat, you weren’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Such a weird saying.

After licking off the icing from your fingers and talking to the monster kids you decide it’s about time to face Papyrus. You make your way across Snowdin, and follow the path through the trees. The wind picks up, and snow whips around you, blurring your vision. Then you see a shadowy figure before you.

Papyrus’ grin lit up when he saw you, and he shouted across the the space between you, “HUMAN. I WISH TO SHARE WITH YOU OF SOME COMPLEX FEELINGS. THE ADMIRATION OF ANOTHER’S PUZZLE-SOLVING SKILLS. LOVE OF PASTA. AND THE DESIRE TO HAVE A COOL, SMART PERSON THINK YOU ARE COOL. IT MUST BE VERY HARD FOR YOU, TO FEEL THIS WAY. AND WHILE I CAN’T IMAGINE WHAT THAT IS LIKE BECAUSE I AM VERY GREAT I-I WILL BE YOUR…” Papyrus’ smile faltered, “NO, NO THIS IS ALL WRONG. I CAN’T BE YOUR FRIEND! YOU’RE A HUMAN AND I MUST CAPTURE YOU!”

“Wait Paps, we can talk about this.” You smile weakly, but know he’s right. You’re a human after all, and he’s only doing his job.

Papyrus draws in a shaky breath and lifts his left arm. Bones lift from the ground before him. His eye sockets close for a moment as he steels his nerves and then looks directly into your eyes, “ARE YOU READY HUMAN?”

“Not really but let’s do it.”

He nods slowly and thrusts his left hand forward sending the bones towards you. Here they come! There’s no going back now! There’s at least 7 of them in a row across! You’ll have to jump over them! Will you be fast enough?! Are you ready?!?!

Slowly, silently, after an awkward 30 seconds they are finally close enough to your feet dodge. Only lifting an inch from the ground, the row of bones were easy to step over. Once they were behind you, they disappeared.

…

….

……

You looked up at Papyrus, and had to hold back a laugh. He looked so proud of you! “HUMAN! YOUR SKILLS ARE TRULY AMAZING!”

You winked, playing along, “Well I learned from watching the best, Paps.”

He blushed, “FL-FLIRTING? THIS IS NO TIME FOR FLIRTING WE ARE IN A BATTLE!”

Flirting huh? No one can tell you when to not flirt, and you wanted to see him blush again. Hopping over some more rows of bones (this time there were 3 rows each 2 inches high, now it’s getting tough). “I’m sorry Paps, you’re just so strong and great I can’t help myself.” You look at him longingly with the best puppy-dog eyes you could muster.

It worked. His cheekbones were glowing a bright pink and he was sputtering, “W-WE CAN DATE L-LATER! AFTER I CAPTURE YOU!” Even the bones he had lined up for his next attack were shaking. 3 inches high now and 5 rows. Yes all those recesses playing jump rope had not been in vain!

“I love it when you act tough Paps.” You grin with a flirty lilt in your voice. “But I wouldn’t have thought you’d be the kinky type.” You hold your arms above your head, with your wrists crossed. Looking at him through your eye lashes, “Oh Great Papyrus! Only you can capture me! Lock me up!” You gave your hips a sassy wiggle for good measure. Your evil little plan worked, and his skull was burning red, snowflakes turning to steam as they landed on his cheekbones.

“ENOUGH!” He stammered and stomped his foot. “NOW IT’S TIME FOR MY…BLUE ATTACK!” Bones appeared all around him, some in the ground and some in the air, glowing with faint blue light.

Your confidence faltered just a bit. Ok. You know this. Don’t move. Easy. You swallowed. That’s a lot of bones though. You squeezed your eyes shut as they started to fly toward you. Holding your breath and waiting. Don’t move. Don’t move. Don’t move.

“NYEH HEH HEH!!” You peek open an eye at Papyrus’ triumphant laughter, confused. Opening both eyes, you were about to ask him what you missed when suddenly-

WHAM!!  
You were immediately flattened, face first, into the snow. You hear another familiar laugh to your left. Struggling to turn your head you see sans watching you, a look of pure joy plastered on his face. What the hell?

Your whole body felt heavy. It was like the air was pushing you down. No it was more like the ground was pulling you closer. All you can manage is to slowly turn your head until you’re resting on your chin. It painfully dug into the dirt but it was too exhausting to try to lift it up.

Papyrus was smiling gleefully, “THIS IS MY SPECIAL ATTACK! I CAN INCREASE GRAVITY! NOW TRY TO DODGE THIS!” He lifted up his hand and more bones appeared. You’ve got to be kidding.

Panicked, you use all the strength you can muster to bring your arms and legs underneath you. Muscles strain and burn from the effort but you do manage to tuck your knees under your torso and prop yourself up on your elbows. Sweating and heart beating faster, your arms wobble wanting to give. You look up at Papyrus, and he’s waiting patiently for you to get ready. You flick your eyes to sans, unable to spend any energy turning your head, and he’s still laughing at you.

Inhaling deeply, and trying to ignore the fire burning within your limbs, you force yourself to stand. Well, the best you can. Wheezing, and bracing yourself on your knees, “Ok. Ok. I’m ready.” You were so not ready.

You made it over the first three rows, but the fourth one tripped you and the fifth bonked you on the head. Groaning, you force yourself to stand again.

A few more turns go by, but you’re not willing to give up. And you’re definitely not willing to ask the mocking skeleton for help. You’re reduced to lamely hopping over the rows of bones on all fours. Sweat is dripping into your eyes and your whole body hurts.

This next turn you can’t even lift yourself off the ground. You let the bones whack your wrists and bite your lip to distract yourself from the pain. Bruises start to appear, and your arms quiver. You slowly give in to the pressure surrounding you, sinking down until your forehead is pressed against the icy ground. Ahhh that feels nice. You close your eyes and wait to be defeated.

But then.

The pressure is gone.

Your body flops to the side, and you inhale deep, greedy lungfuls of air. Rolling onto your back, you relish the cooling snow on your burning muscles. You angle your head up, so you’re looking at Papyrus upside down, you see he’s also very tired. Not half dead laying on the ground, but he isn’t standing as straight and proud as you’re used to seeing him.

“HUMAN.” He panted, “YOU ARE A VERY STRONG OPPONENT. I DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH MAGIC TO CAPTURE YOU.” He fell to his knees, tears falling from his eye sockets. “I HAVE FAILED.”

Poor Papyrus. You’re glad you’ve won, but it’s bittersweet. You roll back over and ignore as your muscles scream in protest. Hobbling over to him, you fall to your knees, and wrap your arms around him in a tight hug.

“HU-HUMAN?” he sobbed and pulled you close for comfort.

Stroking the back of his skull, you whisper softly. “You fought valiantly Papyrus. That was the toughest battle I’ve fought in my whole life. But you know what?”

He sniffed, “WH-WHAT?” You chuckle, this crying skeleton was so adorable.

“You weren’t able to capture me, but I can offer something better. I’d like to be friends with you. If you want to of course.” You blush, suddenly feeling shy.

His eye sockets widen, “REALLY? WOWIE!!” He shot up, skull almost smacking you in the chin, and exclaimed, “BROTHER! DID YOU HEAR THAT! THE HUMAN AND I ARE FRIENDS!!”

sans finally joined you guys, “that’s great bro. you should go make spaghetti to celebrate.”

“GOOD IDEA BROTHER! AND HUMAN! DON’T THINK I FORGOT ABOUT OUR DATE! COME SEE ME SOON OK?!” And off he went, chattering about how excited he was about hitting the friend zone.

You chuckled as you watched him leave. Forgetting you were still sitting in the snow until sans offered his hand to you again. Pulling you up and catching you as the muscles in your legs screamed in protest he said, "nice job. you didn't even need my help this time."

You roll your eyes, knowing that even if you ask he won't explain what that really meant. Your legs shake beneath you again and you flail your arms to balance yourself. He snickers. You try to squint your eyes at him, but end up groaning as a wave of pain hits your body. "It's not funny. I felt like I got ran over by a steam roller. And then it parked on me." You rolled your shoulders trying to relieve the tight, constricting feeling that lingered between them. 

He gave you a strange look. Considering you for a moment. And then his grin turned mischievous. "what was this all about?" He puts his arms up in the air, wrists crossed, and brow bone raised.

You stuck out your tongue hating that he was enjoying your now flushed cheeks. You weren't about to let him win though. You gave him your own grin and lifted up your arms. Now he looked nervous. "You forgot one part." And gave your hip a shake, nudging his with a wink. "I just wanted to rattle his bones."

He cleared his nonexistent throat, "ah well. good plan. let's uh go catch up to papyrus. don't want him burning down the house." He shook his head and seemed a little more composed. His eyes gleamed, "c'mon buddy." He threw his arm around your shoulder, laughing as you sucked in a breath of surprise, and together you strolled back to Snowdin. Glancing at the boney fingers resting on your shoulder made your heart flutter and your steps felt a little lighter. You wonder if Papyrus' bones were the only ones rattled by your performance.


	7. DATING...START?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just couldn't wait. Stayed up till 2am writing this :) apologies for any typos I may have missed!

You never would’ve expected to find yourself in a house owned by two skeleton brothers…eating spaghetti…and feeling slightly awkward as the taller one stares at you with fascination each time you slurped up some noodles.

“DO IT AGAIN!” He pushes a third plate piled high with spaghetti toward you. He’s absolutely beaming.

“Uh, sorry Paps I’m full.” You patted your overly full belly.

You hated it when he deflated so quickly. He retrieved the plate, “OK.” He scraped the spaghetti into a tupperware box and put it in the fridge. You feel so bad for disappointing him, but you fear that he wouldn’t stop until you exploded.

Groaning a little as you stood up from the table you ask, “Why were you so curious about that?”

He laughed a little shy, “BECAUSE WHILE I AM VERY GREAT THAT IS SOMETHING THAT EVEN I CANNOT DO.” He looked at you and blushed. Then turned away to clean up the kitchen.

Ah. That makes sense now. Sort of.

You decide to check up on sans, who was in the living room flipping through channels on the T.V. You plopped down next to him and nudge him.

“Whatcha dooooooin?” Channeling your best annoying younger sibling impression. You kept poking him in the arm, over and over, waiting till he got mad.

He sighed and put down the remote, “you sure you wanna do that?” His left arm was propped up on the armrest, and his jaw resting in his palm. Still looking at the T.V.

Well you weren’t having any of that.

You adjust yourself so you’re sitting sideways, facing sans, and start poking him faster. Giggling as you watch his face. His resolve slowly chipping away. With. Each. Little. Poke.

He sighed again and tilts his head towards you, lights in his eyes dimmed. “alright, don’t say i didn’t warn you.”

Uh oh.

His grin looked sinister. “hey, papyrus.”

Oh no.

“YES BROTHER?” Papyrus called from the kitchen.

No wait.

His eyes flickered evilly, “weren’t you supposed to go on a date with the human?”

Your eyes widened, hands covering your mouth, heart thudding in your ears.

sans you bastard.

You hear a crash as whatever dishes Papyrus had been washing were abruptly dropped in the sink. “OH MY GOD YOU’RE RIGHT!” He ran into the living room, “HUMAN! I’M SO SORRY I FORGOT! LET’S GO RIGHT NOW!!” He grabbed your wrist and yanked you off the couch, pulling you to the door.

You clutch the doorframe and mouth the words I-hate-you to sans as Papyrus tries to tug you out the doorway. Your fingers slip but before Papyrus pulls you any further you see a glimpse of sans throwing back his skull against the back of the couch, jaw wide howling with laughter.

“Bastard.” you grumble to yourself, glaring at the ground as Papyrus drags you across Snowdin.

“WHAT WAS THAT HUMAN?” He turns his head towards you, still marching determinedly.

You sigh, “Oh nothing Paps.” May as well make the best of the situation, “Where are we going?”

Papyrus stops so quickly you almost bump into his spine.

“Paps?”

“UH, NO WORRIES. I HAVE A PLAN.” He let go of your wrist and put it against his sternum, “AFTER ALL WHY WOULD I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, MASTER OF DATING, PRINCE OF ROMANCE, KNIGHT OF LOVE, NOT HAVE A PLAN WHEN I TAKE YOU OUT ON A DATE? NYEH HEH….HEH”

He’s stalling.

That’s ok. You needed a break from his brother anyway.

“I GOT IT! I UH MEAN I HAVE DECIDED IT IS TIME TO TELL YOU WHERE WE ARE GOING.” He nods knowingly, “MYSTERY IS VERY ROMANTIC.”

“Ok Paps where are we go-“ You don’t get to quite finish as he has grabbed your wrist again and is pulling you quickly across town.

“WE ARE GOING TO GO TO A PLACE I SPEND A LOT OF MY TIME!” He exclaimed excitedly. Huh. This could be interesting. 

After a few more minutes of going around town he finally stops.

You’ve got to be kidding.

“MY HOUSE!” He stands proudly in front of it.

You facepalm. Of course. You really should've seen that coming.

He giggled excitedly as he ran inside. You drag your hand down from your forehead, over your eyes, until your fingers are on your cheeks. Chewing your lip, you take an extra moment to steel your nerve, and then with a shaky hand open the door and peek your head inside.

Of course sans was sitting there on the couch, eyes on you, shoulders still shaking with laughter.

He was still giggling between words, “well, papyrus” snicker “what a lovely date” snicker “you have here.”

You shoot him a look but he just laughs more. Sweet Papyrus is oblivious, “YES WELL YOU KNOW WHO IT IS SANS REMEMBER? IT’S THE HUMAN WE MET EARLIER.”

“oh yeah guess i forgot. i’m such a bonehead.”

“UGH SANS! YOU NEED TO PAY MORE ATTENTION” Papyrus turned to you, “WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO ON OUR DATE HUMAN?”

“Uh well-“

“you know the best dates always happen in the bedroom.” sans felt the need to chime in.

Please shut up sans.

Papyrus clapped his hands together, “OF COURSE! COME HUMAN!” He grabbed your wrist again and dragged you up the stairs to his room.

“try to keep it pg ok?” sans called from below before the door swung shut behind you.

Ears burning you stood by the door awkwardly and kneaded the ends of your sleeves in your hands. Papyrus was in the middle of the room, pointing at everything and telling you what things were. He was so proud of his action figures and you thought his dream of driving on the surface was so cute. You hoped it would come true (although you’re not quite sure how he’d achieve the skin and hair bit). After he was done there was a moment of silence. Neither of you were sure what to do next.

 

“SO I UM HAVE TO ADMIT SOMETHING.” Papyrus looked down at the floor shyly.

“You can tell me anything Paps.” You were slightly nervous about what could come out of this excitable skeleton’s mouth.

He kicked at his rug, eyes looking down at his feet, “IT’S HARD TO BELIEVE BUT I’VE NEVER UM DATED BEFORE.”

You started to sigh with relief but caught yourself, “Ooh! That’s ok Paps you’re doing great.”

That seemed to bolster his confidence a bit because he struck his sternum again, “WELL OF COURSE I AM. I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS AFTER ALL! FORTUNATELY-“ he pulls a book out of…somewhere? “-I CHECKED THIS OUT FROM THE LIBRARY SHORTLY AFTER OUR BATTLE! IT’S A DATING MANUAL.” He held the book up to his face as he flicked through the pages, “LET’S SEE WE’VE COMPLETED STEP ONE AND TWO…” He peeked over the book, and blushed. “SO UM NOW WE UH MOVE ON TO STEP THREE.”

“What’s step three?” This date is derailing fast and now you feel like you’re just trying to stay on board.

He tossed the book on the bed and seemed to be breathing a little heavier. He slipped his fingers underneath the hem and started to lift his shirt over his ribcage.

Oh god no. That’s only step three?! Monsters move fast! Wait. Focus.

You run across the room and put your hands on his gloved ones to stop him. Your throat felt a little dry and you squeaked, “Hey, um, maybe we should slow it down a bit? I’m not ready for that.”

Papyrus looked utterly confused, “BUT YOU’RE ALREADY WEARING CLOTHES.”

What.

You blink slowly, staring at him, and you feel your face turning even redder. “Wh-“ your voice cracks and you try again, “Sorry, what?”

He sighs and lowers one of his arms. “STEP THREE: WEAR NICE CLOTHES TO SHOW YOU CARE. YOU’VE BEEN WEARING CLOTHES SINCE WE MET, WHICH MEANS YOU MUST LIKE ME A LOT AND MY SPECIAL CLOTHES ARE UNDERNEATH MY REAL CLOTHES. SEE?” He tugs on some fabric and reveals another shirt with the words “Cool Dude” embroidered.

This time you can’t hold back your sigh of relief. “Oh thank god.” you say under your breath as you remove your hands from his.

“HM?”

“Nothing Paps. I think you look great just the way you are.”

His cheeks turn red, “WOWIE A GENUINE COMPLIMENT! I UM THINK YOU LOOK NICE TOO!”

Suddenly you feel a little tired. You sit on his bed and instantly regret it. The bed springs creak and you groan inwardly. sans definitely heard that, and he will definitely use it to torment you. Papyrus sits next to you and the bed creaks again. You can almost hear the mockery now.

“H-HEY HUMAN? I HAVE TO TELL YOU SOMETHING.”

You smile warmly, “I already told you that you can tell me anything Paps.”

“RIGHT WELL,” He retrieved the book he had tossed on the bed, “THE MANUAL SAYS THAT HONESTY IS VERY IMPORTANT IN RELATIONSHIPS AND WELL I…”

You nod encouragingly and pat him on the shoulder, “I’m listening.”

He blushed again and then said quickly in one breath, “WELL IT’S JUST THAT I CAN TELL THAT YOU LIKE ME A LOT AND I TRIED TO RETURN YOUR FEELINGS AND WENT ON THIS DATE WITH YOU AND I WAS HOPING THAT THEY WOULD COME BUT THEY DIDN’T AND I’M SORRY BUT I JUST I JUST-DON’T LIKE YOU IN THAT WAY HUMAN.” He exhaled and then inhaled deeply, although you’re not sure why he needed to do that but you let it slide. He looked at you sadly, “I’M SORRY HUMAN. I FAILED YOU.”

You chuckle. That was the cutest rejection you’ve ever been given. You give him a light kiss on the cheekbone, “That’s ok Paps thank you for being honest with me. Can we still be friends?”

He hopped up from the bed, “OF COURSE WE CAN STILL BE FRIENDS! YOU’LL NEED ME MORE THAN EVER NOW TO GET THROUGH THESE TOUGH TIMES! BUT DON’T WORRY I WILL HELP YOU PUT YOUR BROKEN HEART BACK TOGETHER AND FIND THE BEST PARTNER THAT YOU CAN HAVE. WELL THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE BECAUSE I AM THE BEST BUT I WILL HELP YOU SETTLE FOR THE SECOND BEST! NYEH HEH HEH!!”

You push yourself off the bed and return to the door, “Thanks Paps, you’re a great friend.”

You scrunched your eyebrows together as you left his room. It had gotten pretty late, or at the very least with no sun, you could feel your body starting to give into fatigue. As you made your way downstairs you were so busy deciding how you’d make it to this place called Waterfall that Papyrus had mentioned that you forgot about the stout skeleton watching you, face aglow from the light of the T.V.

Once again your ears started to burn, but the darkened room worked in your favor. He couldn’t see the shade of your ever-burning face. You walked cooly across the living room, ignoring the eyes that watched your back, and reached for the doorknob.

You open the door a few inches, “Thanks for everything. I should really get going now.” You hope he doesn’t notice your voice shaking.

The door shuts immediately and you feel warm breath against the back of your neck. sans is leaning over you holding the door shut with his right hand. You can almost feel his body against you and you can’t turn around without bumping into him. You try to strain your neck to look behind you.

The lights of his eyes were almost gone, he looked so distraught, “don’t go.” He whispers so quietly that you almost can’t hear it.

Then he leans away, hand returning to his jacket pocket, and his perma-grin back to playful. “paps bed is pretty bouncy isn’t it.”

“Ugh that’s it I’m never coming back.” You reach for the doorknob.

He chuckles, “aw come on no need to be so stern-um.” He tugs on your sleeve, “you gotta be tired. why don’t you sleep on the couch?”

You scowl at him and his stupid grin, not wanting him to know how amazing that sounded right now. “Fine. Just for tonight.”

He nods, “of course.”

You follow him back to the couch and watch a quiz show hosted by a robot. After the episode ends and another begins you hear sans huff and look a little annoyed.

“What’s up?”

“nothing.”

You raise an eyebrow, “Are you sure?”

He sighed, “yeah it’s no big deal. you probably wouldn’t want to hear it anyway.”

Curious now, you tuck your left leg under yourself and turn to face him. “Why? What is it?”

He turned to face you as well, smiling slyly. “i was just getting a little jealous and wondering when you’d ask to jump my bones next.”

Your jaw dropped open and your face felt like it could be the sun that the Underground lacked. He threw back his head and bellowed with laughter. You glared at him through your burning humiliation until his chuckles died down.

“I hate you.”

He gasped, not quite calmed yet, and wiped a tear from his eye socket. Then with a wink he said, “no you don’t.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok this is for a little further down the line but I want to know what you guys would like. I have some sad stuff and romantic stuff planned but want to keep the gender neutral when possible. (I am female so it's easier for me to get smutty with female stuff but I'm happy to try writing with male as well :) ).
> 
> A few ideas for this would be writing the chapter and posting it multiple times. That way you could read the same chapter but the romance would be adapted to a preference. (Like chapter a is fluff, chapter b is female, chapter c is male). I could also just keep it fluffy if you guys would prefer that. I just need to build up the romance somehow ;). 
> 
> If you could comment on here or vote at this poll I made: http://goo.gl/Bt9MOL that would help me out a lot! I'm not sure how many chapters it will be until I get to that point but I wanted to get started now gathering info from everyone!
> 
> Thanks!!


	8. You Idiot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are starting to get a little sad as the reader is remembering choices made in previous timelines. I promise it won't be sad forever! Papyrus is such a good friend in this timeline isn't he? :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who has voted in the poll so far :) Currently it's tied between keeping it fluffy or posting three different versions of the chapter. I'm posting the poll again for anyone that hasn't had a chance to vote and may post it a few more times depending on how long it takes me to get to that chapter! 
> 
> http://goo.gl/Bt9MOL

*************************************************************

“You’re such an idiot.”

Everything is dark. It feels cold.

“You really think you can just be friends with them?”

“Hello?” you call out.

You try to walk, to find the source of the voice that surrounds you, but your feet stay planted in the ground.

“After what you’ve done?” the voice cackles.

“Wh-who are you? What’s going on?” shouting in the dark, trying to hide your fear, you wrap your arms around yourself.

It cackles again, “Such a convenient case of amnesia.”

Suddenly a dim light shines from above. Your legs are wrapped in vines up to your calves, and dust blows around the room in slow circles.

“s-sans? Papyrus?” You call out. The dust in the room unnerved you. “Toriel?” you say weakly.

The voice cackled yet again, “They aren’t here. You’ve killed them.”

“No! I’d never do that.”

“Ah but you have. Many times. And you’ll continue to do it again, and again. Know why?”

You cover your face in your hands. You just want to go back to Snowdin and see your friends. You want to get out of here. Hands shoot out from the shadows and rip your hands from your face, forcing you to stare at gleaming red eyes and a toothy sneer.

“Because I’m going to make you do it again. We’ll reset and murder them over and over. Won’t that be fun?”

The face disappears, laughter swirling around you. “I won’t! You can’t make me!” You sob.

The voice is so close to you now, right behind you, breathlessly whispering in your ear. “Oh, but I already have.” It’s laughter echoes around you as you sink to your knees, body shuddering with fear and grief. Eventually it fades away.

You’re alone.

*************************************************************

You jolt awake and fall to the floor. “Ow….” You rub your head slightly dazed, vision still blurry from sleep.

“you ok buddy?” sans asks from the kitchen table causing you to jump. You had forgotten where you were. Still shaken from your nightmare, you tried to stand up calmly, but could feel your body twitch and shudder as you tried to fight the urge to flee. You shouldn’t be scared now. It was just a dream. It wasn’t real. sans was your friend.

Right?

You were taking so long to answer that the brightness of his eyes became clouded, and his smile became a little more serious. “you ok?” he whispered.

“Y-yeah! J-just had a bad dream. Heh…heh.” The twitchiness had spread to your voice. You stiffened your shoulders, trying to appear as normal as possible.

He wasn’t buying it. He sighed, and pushed himself up from the table and strode over to you with his head down. When he was standing toe to toe with you, he tilted his head up, and his sockets were as black as the abyss.

“you better not be lying or you’re gonna have a bad time.” His hollow eye sockets glared at you, long and hard, in silence. It always seemed like he was more aware than he led you to believe. You swallowed, trying to speak, but your throat felt like it was getting tighter with each passing second. Your heart was pounding so hard you worried he could hear it, and you could feel the blood pulse in your brain. He cracked his jaw open to say something more-

“HUMAN! BROTHER! FINALLY AWAKE I SEE! EXCELLENT I’LL MAKE BREAKFAST.” Papyrus shouted from the top of the stairs, shattering the tension coming from the living room. You turned to him as he leapt over the railing with a flip and landed gracefully in front of the T.V. and struck a pose. You smiled, relieved that he was here to lighten the mood. After he went to the kitchen you felt calmer and turned back to talk to sans. But he was gone.

 

You swirl the noodles on your fork over and over, not really feeling up to eating.

_You really think you can just be friends with them?_

“HUMAN?”

_You’re such an idiot._

“UH, HUMAN?”

 _You’ve killed them_.

“HEY HUMAN CAN YOU HEAR ME?”

_I’m going to make you do it again._

You drop the fork and hold your head in your hands and your shoulders quiver as you try to hold back your tears.

_Over and over._

You can’t hold it in anymore.Your cheeks are slick with tears and you scrub your eyes with the heels of your palms.

_Won’t that be fun?_

Boney fingers wrapped themselves around your shoulders, and Papyrus was shaking you back and forth with each word. “HUMAN WHAT IS THE MATTER? IS IT THE PASTA? WAS IT ME? WAS IT SANS? PLEASE STOP MAKING MY FRIEND CRY. I DON’T LIKE SEEING MY FRIEND SAD.” His brow bones were scrunched up with concern. He was so sweet and worried about you.

You sniffed and scrubbed away the tears on your face and try to laugh it off but it comes out as a mournful choking sound. He’s still shaking you slowly, trying to snap you out of it. “Pa-py-rus plea-se st-op sha-king me I’m get-ting dizz-y.” He stops and this time your laugh, while still sounding strained, comes a little easier this time.

He’s uncharacteristically quiet for a moment, waiting for you to speak, and boney hands still resting on your shoulders, squeezing them tightly. You lift up a hand to pat him and tell him you’re ok, and start to lean away. “NO.” He holds you firmly. “I MAY NOT KNOW WHAT MADE YOU SAD AND YOU DON’T HAVE TO TELL ME.” He pulls you close to him, pressing you against his ribcage, one arm wrapped around your back, the other stroking the back of your head. “BUT I KNOW WHEN YOU NEED A HUG.” He says into your shoulder, and continues to stroke your hair.

Tears fall from your eyes once more as you rest your face on his clavicle and you hug him back. You close your eyes and sigh, letting yourself relax and enjoy the comfort of his embrace. Even if it is a bit boney.You feel happy.

A familiar, chilling cackle echoes in your mind and a vision flickers behind your eye lids. You see dust, and a familiar orange scarf flutter in the breeze.

You stiffen, push Papyrus away, and stand up.

“I’m sorry. I should really get going.” You look down at your feet, not wanting to meet his worried gaze.

“I DON’T THINK NOW WOULD BE A COULD TIME TO LEAVE. YOU’RE DISTRESSED HUMAN. IT’S OK. YOU CAN STAY HERE FOR A FEW MORE DAYS IF YOU WANT.”

You shake your head quickly, “No, no. I can’t.”

“BUT I JUST SAID YOU CAN.” Papyrus cupped your chin in his hand and forced you to look at him eye to eye socket. His brow bones were still furrowed with worry. Eventually he sighed and released your chin, “OK HUMAN, IF YOU MUST. PLEASE BE CAREFUL. WATERFALL IS VERY FAR AWAY AND UNDYNE IS A TOUGH OPPONENT.” He gently guided you towards the door and reached to open it for you but hesitated, “HUMAN?”

“Yes, Papyrus?” You still couldn’t quite bring yourself to look at his face yet, and opted to stare at your hands as they trembled.

“PROMISE YOU’LL REMEMBER YOU CAN COME BACK? EVEN IF-EVEN IF YOU CAN’T BEAT UNDYNE OR YOU GET LONELY.” You gasped in a breath and gazed up at him and his innocent smile. “WE COULD MAKE SPAGHETTI AND LAUGH AGAIN LIKE WE DID BEFORE. IF YOU WANT TO COME BACK YOU CAN. YOU DON’T HAVE TO RETURN TO THE SURFACE.” He laughed nervously, cheekbones turning pink, “YOU COULD STAY HERE WITH SANS AND I.” He laughed some more and rubbed the back of his skull, “JUST PROMISE YOU WON’T FORGET WE’RE HERE FOR YOU IF YOU WANT TO COME BACK, OK?”

“Ok I promise.” You smile slowly, knowing that you wouldn’t be able to keep it.


	9. Not Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The reader is trying to understand what's going on with all these horrible visions they see, and sans seems to know more than he led on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone who has participated in the poll so far! It's been interesting seeing it go back and forth between fluffy and multiple versions lol. If you haven't voted and would like to please do! To be honest I just want to go back to the happy romance, (sad stuff makes me sad T.T) and I want to make it as enjoyable as possible for everyone :)
> 
> http://goo.gl/Bt9MOL

As you make your way out of Snowdin, shoulders stiff and eyes puffy, you can’t help but glance back just once to see if sans is nearby. He isn’t. You sigh and shake your head. It’s probably for the best anyway. It’d be best for everyone if you just left as quickly as possible.

 _They aren’t here. You killed them_.

Shut up shut up shut up! You scream in your mind at the wretched voice that haunted you. You were so focused internally, massaging your temples and arguing with your brain, that you didn’t notice you had already made it to the entrance of Waterfall. That was quicker than you had expected, but the air had been pretty foggy outside of Snowdin and it made judging distance difficult. You give a shy smile to a few of the monsters near you. An orange one with a fish tail is leaning against the wall tells you of echo flowers, and the yellow striped kid you recognized from Snowdin chatters excitedly about Undyne. Maybe she won’t be so bad if kids look up to her. You smile a little easier, distancing yourself from the nightmare, but that was short lived.

The tentative smile melted off your face and an inexplicable sense of shame blossomed within your chest. You were torn between wanting to flee and run from him, and crying while wrapped in his arms and begging him to tell you everything would be ok. But instead, your feet stayed right where they were. Cemented into the ground. You quickly glanced down to make sure there were no vines and sighed with relief.

He stood up and walked around his booth, casually making his way towards you. You wanted to say his name but didn’t deserve to. His name shouldn’t be tainted by your wretched voice. You watched him silently, heart beating faster, and the urge to flee becoming stronger.

“hey.” sans said simply, hands in pockets, lights in his eyes neutral.

You tried to respond, but your voice cracked.

He sighed and cocked his head to the side, “anything you wanna pa-tell-a me?” You could see his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes, and even his joke felt hollow to him.

It warmed your heart that he was trying. You wanted so badly to tell him about the nightmare, and the visions flickering behind your eye lids, but you didn’t want him to hate you. You have a feeling that you’ve seen that before.

“J-just that I’ll be leaving, um, now.” Your eyes darted back and forth between his.

He inhaled a small breath, and turned toward the side “i see. well, before you go would you like to take a break with me? i’m due for one.”

“N-no that’s ok.” You put up your hands in front of you and chuckle nervously. It’d be best if you didn’t linger any longer.

He squinted through his eye sockets at you thoughtfully, “you look a little il-ium. c’mon let’s go get a bite to eat.” He looped his arm around yours, ignoring your protests. “it won’t take long. i know a shortcut.”

 

Colors swirled together and you felt your limbs being pulled in every direction. Then the world went black, and the only thing you could feel was sans’ arm around yours. Then as suddenly as it had started, it was over, and you were standing in Grillby’s.

sans released your arm and cracked a few jokes with the other patrons in the restaurant. He gestured for you to join him at the bar, but put a hand on your shoulder before you could sit down. He then lifted up the seat, removed a hidden whoopee cushion, and tucked it in his jacket and released your shoulder. “sorry bout that. some weirdo is always hiding whoopee cushions here.” He gestured for you to sit down.

You stared silently at the counter, trying to ignore the sockets watching the side of your head. Finally Grillby stopped by to check on you two and sans cleared his throat, “what do you think, kid? burg or fries?”

“Fries.” You mumble.

“yeah that sounds good. two orders of fries please.” Grillby’s retreated to the back and returned with two baskets of fries and set them down in front of you. “want some ketchup?” you shake your head and he shrugs, “more for me then.” and takes a swig. He continues to watch you silently pick at your food, drumming his boney fingers on the countertop. Silent and tense, like trying to be friendly to someone but inside you just wanted to curl up and hide from the world. Why did it have to feel like this now? You were happy in an easy friendship a few days before. You don’t deserve his kindness. After only nibbling and tearing apart a few fries he sighs again, “hey, kid.”

You stiffen at his serious tone, “Yes?” Still staring at your fries.

“do you ever feel like you’ve seen this all before?” he asks curiously. You gaze into his eye sockets, and his eyes flash. “kind of like deja vu but not quite since it’s familiar but not really the same?”

“Um, maybe? I mean I don’t know.” you look down again, “I mean dreams can be a little weird sometimes. Like when you worry about something and have a dream about it.” You scowled at your fries.

“yeah…dreams…” He drummed his boney fingers on the counter again, and rested his chin in his right hand. He stopped abruptly and cleared his throat, suddenly seeming a bit nervous, “life is kinda weird isn’t it?” You looked up at him again, but he wouldn’t meet your eyes this time. “choices everyone makes. sending you down different paths. changing not just your life but also those around you. sometimes you're not the one that gets to make those choices.” His eyes blinked out and he froze. His body wasn’t moving, but he was breathing harder.

“Sans?” you whisper, and his body shivered.

His eyes flicker back to life, and his grin seemed to convey he knew more than he would tell. “wouldn’t it be interesting if someone could go back, and redo something?” he laughed to himself, “yeah that’d be interesting.” he muttered to himself, “everyone around them none the wiser, unaware of previous paths, only living in the moment…”

His permanent smile seemed strained. Your throat tightened, but you weren’t sure what to do. You could almost see the thoughts swirling inside his skull. Sending him to a very dark place. His teeth were grinding together, and his smile wasn’t happy anymore.

Impulsively, you pushed yourself off your seat and hugged him. His teeth were grinding in your right ear, and his body was cold and stiff, boney hands clenched tight into fists. Embarrassed at your actions, you started to pull away and apologize. His arms shot out and wrapped around you, desperately clutching you against his body. He pressed his face to your neck and whispered so softly that you couldn’t make out the words at first. His boney fingers were digging into your back, like he was afraid the moment he’d let go, you’d disappear.

“please….don’t go….please….don’t leave….not again…i can’t…” his body shuddered in a silent sob, “not again….”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I lied. I'm going to thank everyone yet again for the support you guys have given me!!! So many people have read and given me kudos and comments and it means so much to me! Please feel free to let me know how I'm doing and what you think of it so far. Feedback is very much appreciated and it helps to know people are enjoying the story! :)


	10. Yo Undyne!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter is a bit long, and sadly sans does not make an appearance. But he will be back next chapter! I promise <3 We do get to meet Undyne, and the reader is slowly realizing that these visions might be more real than they would like them to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my goodness gracious! Over 200 kudos?? Thank you so so much!!! I hope you guys are still enjoying this :)

Waterfall felt a little colder, a little more lonely as you walked through the caverns. sans had wordlessly teleported you back to the booth shortly after the scene at Grillby’s, anguish still clearly written on his face. He watched you silently turn away from him and continue down the path, and when you turned back to say goodbye he was gone.

Which was probably for the best. You couldn’t stand seeing his face in such pain. One more moment of his tormented smile and your resolve to leave would’ve been completely shattered.

But you can’t stay.

You come to a smaller waterfall and a lazily flowing stream. Looking for a way across, you see some spots of land jutting out on either side. They were just too far away to jump to. You stroke your chin thoughtfully, debating on trying to find another way around or if you wanted to walk around in soggy shoes for the rest of your journey.

Hm…soggy shoes are really uncomfortable…but it also doesn’t look like there’s any other way to go…. Suddenly the solution flickers behind your eyes. You turn behind you and find some seedlings. Gently picking up one, you jog to the bottom of the stream and send it up, knowing it would oddly defy the flow of water. You repeated this three more times and watched the flowers bloom.

Smiling to yourself you jog up to your newly formed bridge. The blossoms bobbed up and down in the water, and were just big enough for you hop on one foot across. As you hop across one blossom at a time you think to yourself and wonder where the solution had come from and why you solved it so quickly. As you leapt to the final flower you had a chilling thought:

Because you’ve seen it before.

You wobble and flail your arms madly and throw yourself onto the other side. No. You dig your fingers into the dirt. No. If that’s true then… You swallow and shake up, still a bit unsteady, but determined to continue forward. If that was true. Then that means the other visions could also be true…

You shake your head furiously. No it’s probably just that stupid flower. You hadn’t thought it about since the ruins but you remember vines in your nightmare. It must have some magic that messes with your mind or something. Yeah, and it was mad it didn’t get to kill you so now it’s torturing you through dreams.

That’s definitely it.

Totally plausible.

No other reasons.

Right?

You continue on, passing the wishing room, and finding the hidden door. Lucky guess. The wall looked suspicious anyway. Who wouldn’t inspect it?

Without hesitation you hop onto a small pallet of wood and let it carry you across a large expanse of water. When you jumped onto the bridge a sudden sense of fear crawled up your spine. You cautiously walk forward, trying to be quiet, wincing with each creak of wood underneath your feet.

Things seem quiet so far. Nothing too crazy happening. Fear starts to fade and you stand a little straighter.

And then a spear pierces the ground in front of you with a loud thud.

The fear is back! The fear is back!

You turn toward the left and see what you can only imagine to be Undyne in a huge suit of armor. She waves her hands and more spears appear and fly toward you.

Holy shit!

You break out in a sprint, totally forgoing the previous plan of being quiet, and duck and dodge as more spears launch towards your head. Your heart is pounding in your throat, and your feet are pounding on the wooden planks. You yelp as some spears stab into the wood just to your left and zig zag as more reach forward, eager to sink into the flesh of your legs.

Your side starts to burn, and you mentally berate yourself for always skipping out on gym class when you were on the surface. Who knew one day you’d be running for your life from a spear wielding monster? If they had just told you you would’ve actually run laps. Just as you felt yourself about to give in, you see a large patch of tall grass. You dodge a few more spears, and then dive into the foliage.

You’re out of breath, but you have to be quiet. You hold up your hands to your mouth, and bite your finger, trying to quietly regain your breath. Hoping that breathing quickly through your nose wasn’t as loud as it sounded to you.

You hear loud, clanking steps move closer toward you. You squeeze your eyes shut. The boots are smashing through the grass. You hold your breath. You hear the steps right behind you, and sense an arm reaching out. Your lungs scream for air, but you just bite down harder on your finger. You hear the arm grasp something and pull. You squeeze your eyes tighter. This is it.

It’s over.

“Yo! Undyne! H-how’s it going?” The yellow striped kid from Snowdin giggles nervously, face clutched in Undyne’s gloved hand.

Undyne growls sets him down, and marches away.

You wait until you can no longer hear her heavy steps or the whoosh of magical spears before crawling out of the grass. Once you’re free you collapse on the ground and breathe deeply, trying to calm your pounding heart.

The striped kid runs out after you, absolutely giddy, “Yo! Did you see that?! She touched me! I’m never washing my face ever again!!” He danced around happily, “If only you had been just a bit more to the left. Man you’re so unlucky.” He ran a few steps, fell on his face, and got up again and ran off some more. Nothing could’ve phased that starstruck kid.

Your heart was still fluttering, but you felt strong enough to stand and carry on. Keeping an eye on the shadows you continue deeper into the caverns. With each step you started to feel a little safer, hoping you wouldn’t have to see her again. You make your way through a maze, and listen to the monsters’ wishes within the echo flowers. At the end you whisper your own wish into the echo flower, and hope that one day your friends can find the freedom and happiness they’ve dreamt for for so long.

You chatted with Onionsan, and adorable water monster. He told you about his friends, and how the water was too shallow for him. As you wave goodbye you smile, “I hope you can swim in the ocean someday Onionsan!” He wipes a tear from his eye and waves goodbye.

After passing a dejected statue you find some umbrellas. You smile to yourself and take one of the umbrellas and place it over the statue. You watch as the water droplets fall onto the stones near it’s feet and music begins to play.

Returning to the previous room, you grab another umbrella, and shake your head. It’s raining. Underground. Like under the Underground. You sigh and roll your eyes, not trying to understand the weather here, but it could just be an underground stream leaking from above. Either way, you had an umbrella, and that’s what counted.

Eventually you see the striped kid again, and wave him under your umbrella. He happily joins you and chatters away about Undyne. She does sound pretty cool, but you laugh nervously when he says he’d be scared of her if he was a human. Ha, yeah…silly humans.

Once you reach the end of the tunnel you put away the umbrella and the kid helps you up on the ledge. You offer your hand to lift him, but he shakes his head saying he can find another way. You chuckle as he trips again and runs off.

Oh great. Another bridge. You groan inwardly. This’ll be fun.

You only make it a few steps when bright blue circles appear around you. Spears shoot up from them. Of course. You turn around and Undyne is quickly approaching. You try to dodge this new attack, but the bridge is confusing and there’s a lot of twists and turns. Eventually she corners you at a dead end. Your heart is still pounding, but you’ve come to an oddly calm acceptance about the outcome. Somehow you knew you weren’t going to die quite yet. Maybe she’d just drag you away.

You didn’t expect her to strike the bridge in front of you and send you falling into the inky black darkness. You didn’t even have time to scream before you fell.

_“Now I see who I was protecting by keeping you here. Not you…but them! Ha…ha…”_

_“W-WELL THAT’S NOT WHAT I EXPECTED. BUT ST-STILL I BELIEVE IN YOU!”_

Groaning you pick yourself up off a piece of bridge floating in the water. Your whole body hurts, and you think you landed flat on your back. You look around you as your vision slowly clears. Ugh, gross, there’s trash floating all around you. You rub your head. Where were these thoughts coming from?

You limp your way through the muck, and numbly make your way through the darkened mazes. One more bridge to cross, and it was long and narrow. You didn’t even care if Undyne came back. You make your way across in a complete daze, stumbling along like a zombie.

“Yo!” You turn around and see the striped kid make his way toward you, “Undyne told me something crazy. She said that-she said…that you were a human. Is that true?”

You sigh, “Yes.” you say weakly.

He gasped, “But you’re so nice! I-I can’t be friends with a human! Say something mean so I can hate you. Please?”

You just look at him sadly, wanting to give him what he asked for. He should hate you. But you couldn’t bring yourself to do it. “I can’t…I’m sorry.” you look down at your feet.

He laughs nervously, “I guess I’ll have to do it.” He shifts from foot to foot, “Yo! I um hate your guts…” It’s quiet for a minute and then he chuckles again, “Man I suck at this. I’m sorry. I’m just gonna go home now.”

You held your breath as he ran away, praying he wouldn’t trip again. He didn’t this time. Thank goodness. You limp further down the path and come to a high mountain, and see Undyne perched above.

She sees you and shouts, “Seven. Seven human souls, and King Asgore will become a god. Six. That’s how many we’ve collected so far. Understand? You will be the seventh. Through your seventh and final soul, this world will be transformed. First, however, it is customary for those to make it this far… I shall tell you the tragic tale of our people. It all started, long ago…” You see her shake her fist angrily, “No, you know what? SCREW IT! WHY SHOULD I TELL YOU THAT STORY?! WHEN YOU’RE ABOUT TO DIE?” And with that she materialized a magic spear, and prepared to leap toward you.

You’ve got to be shitting me.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” you shout. Bonus points for censorship right? She’s gotta appreciate that. There’s kids around.

“NGAAAAHHHHHH!!!” She leapt down toward you.

“Holy shit!!” Screw censorship, you’re gonna die!

You run back toward the narrow bridge. If you can make it there maybe she won’t follow. Her armor looks heavy. Spears whirl around you, and one cuts through the side of your left bicep. You suck in a painful breath and clutch your wound, and are filled with determination to keep running. Another spear appears and slices through the side of your left thigh. She must really hate the left side of your body. You fall to the ground just shy of the bridge.

You turn toward her, her eyes glowing with anger, spear raised. Images flicker in your mind. You see the monster kid. You see yourself. You see Undyne dive in front of you as you callously try to hurt the kid. Maybe this was for the best. You squeeze your eyes shut and wait for her to approach. Out of all the horrible images you’ve seen in your mind, you haven’t seen one where you were captured. Maybe it’ll finally end if she takes your soul. You hold your breath and brace for the pain.

“UNDYNE WAIT!!!” Papyrus leaps from behind over you, and uses his bones to block her spears just inches from your chest. Undyne growls and sends more spears towards you, and he uses his bones to block them all. “STOP UNDYNE! YOU DON’T HAVE TO KILL THE HUMAN! IT’S MY FRIEND!”

Your vision starts to blur from blood loss, and you try to say something to Papyrus, but all that comes out is a weak, garbled noise from within your throat. You decided to focus on the clash of bone and spear, and put pressure onto your wounds, trying to stop the blood as you slowly lose feeling in your fingers.

“Yo!” you turn slowly, unsure if you really heard that or if it was another memory. The striped kid was back, concern in his eyes as he saw you sitting on the ground injured, and he ran toward you. You’ve seen this. You know you have. You open your mouth to speak, but it feels like your tongue has turned into cotton.

Please stop.

Don’t come any closer.

He continues forward. Worried about his friend. He’s determined to not leave you behind.

You crawl toward him, ignoring your searing limbs. You have to get there. You have to stop him.

A plank breaks beneath him and he screams. You dive forward and grasp his ankle with your left hand, sinking your teeth into your bottom lip as your wound fills with fire. You can’t move and he’s squirming and panicking. Your left hand is on his ankle, and your right is clutched to your gash in your muscle. Squeezing it tightly, trying to ignore the pain. Blood runs down your arm to your hand, causing your grip to start to slip.

You swallow the cotton feeling from your mouth and scream, “PAPYRUS!!! HELP ME! I CAN’T HOLD HIM MUCH LONGER!”

Papyrus is at your side in a flash and reaches his long boney arm past yours and scoops up the child. Relieved, you let your body sag, slightly hanging over the edge. He scoops you up as well and brings you both back to Undyne’s side of the bridge.

Undyne is speechless. She stares at you with her mouth hanging open. “S-SEE UNDYNE? THE HUMAN IS GOOD. IT SAVED HIM.” Papyrus says nervously, and smiles at you. Undyne clenches and unclenches her fists. Scowling at you on the ground. You reach up to Papyrus and he helps you stand, steading you as you wince from too much weight on your left leg. You shift and settle most of your weight to your right, and only use the ball of your left foot to keep you balanced. You gently push him away, “It’s ok Papyrus.”

Your right hand over your left arm, and your left hand clutching your thigh, you’re positive you’re a sight to see as blood smears your pants and drips onto the ground. Black spots start to appear, but you’re filled with determination to talk to Undyne. You focus on her face, “You can have my soul.” Papyrus gasps but you ignore him and shrug, “It’s ok. If that’s what I can do to help my friends then just take it.” The black spots are getting bigger, “I mean, it’s not like it’d be used if I ever made it up to the surface. I’d just get old and die and my soul would fade away.” You start to sway and the blackness has spread and all you can see is her face. You smile, “I’m dying right now anyway.” You feel floaty, and the pain has finally ebbed away. You feel yourself falling and your vision has gone black, “Please.” you whisper, “Let me help my friends.”

“H-HUMAN! DON’T GO TO SLEEP HUMAN!”

“Yo! What’s going on? Is the human gonna be ok?”

And then everything fell silent.


	11. Cold Shoulder

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So new approach for this chapter. The nightmare is from the reader's perspective, but the rest of the chapter is from sans P.O.V. Just trying it out, seeing how it goes. Let me know what you think :) I may do it again in the future. I decided to still punctuate everything aside from his speech for the most part though. It'd be way too confusing otherwise XD
> 
> And yes the kid is of age so don't fret. I'm just trying to keep it nameless as best I can lol

***********************************************************************************************************

The room around you is black. Vines constrict your legs up to your waist, thorns biting into your flesh. It feels like there is cotton covering your mouth and nose suffocating you. You claw at it, panicking at lack of air but only feel your face underneath your nails, and notice you can’t move your left arm.

Then you hear them.

Cackling voice is back, and so is that stupid flower.

“Such a good idea Flowey, this is much more fun.”

“Isn’t it?” Flowey chuckles, “Imagine how much more exciting it’ll be to watch their faces as they get stabbed in the back.”

There’s another cackle, “Do you think we should give them back their memories?”

You shift and try to see where the voices are coming from, but you can’t move your head.

“No, no not yet. Let them enjoy their ignorance for just a bit longer.” Flowey’s voice transformed into a sinister snarl.

You try to squirm out of the vines that hold you, but they clutch your legs tighter. Your eyes water as the thorns sink deeper into your skin.

“Yeah I guess you’re right. It’ll be much more fun to kill them the more they grow to love the human. It was getting so dull after a while.” cackling voice didn’t sound so happy, “That stupid skeleton always ended it before we could get too far.”

“Yeah I hate that smiling trash bag.”

“Me too. But the best part is the human doesn’t even remember how to save and reset.” the voice cackled again. 

You pull at the vines with your right hand, ignoring as the spikes pierce the palm of your hand, and tug with all your might. Icy cold hands grip your face, and force your head up. You stare deep into glowing red eyes, “Don’t fret human. I’m just borrowing your power for a bit.” It winked, “Trust me. It’ll be much more fun this way.”

*************************************************************************************************************

sans’ pov

You sit in the hallway waiting, not so patiently, but you were trying. You have to be calm. For Papyrus. You pat him on the knee, “hey bro. relax. don’t let it get under your skin.”

He groaned and put his head in his hands, ignoring your pun. “SANS I TRIED. I TRIED TO MAKE IT THERE AS FAST AS I COULD.”

You pat his shoulder and whisper, “i know bro, i know.” You look longingly at the door.

You should’ve gone. You should’ve been there. You could’ve just teleported and been there in moments. You clenched your fists and grit your teeth.

But, you had tried that before. And it hadn’t ended well. You were afraid it’d happen again. 

You stand up abruptly and pace back and forth. It’s been 9 days. 9 days since Papyrus had carried the human, broken and bloodied, back to Snowdin. 9 days since you saw their smile and heard their voice and felt their warm embrace. 9 days since they had opened their eyes.

You stare at the door again, silently willing them to wake up soon, remembering calling Papyrus. You knew that the human wouldn’t make it past Undyne this time. As soon as you saw their back you called him and asked him to follow the human through Waterfall. He was more than happy to spend more time with his friend, but you hadn’t considered the human would make it through Waterfall so quickly. You press your skull to the wall and sigh. You should’ve. It wasn’t the human’s first time through.

“BROTHER?” Papyrus asked, his voice sounding far away. 

Skull still against the wall, you turn to face him, “yeah, bro?”

His teeth clicked together a few times, considering for a moment, then asked, “DO-DO YOU THINK THE HUMAN W-WILL WAKE UP FROM THEIR NAP SOON?”

“yeah, i’m sure the human’s just tired. undyne wore them out.” You lie. What else were you supposed to do? Fortunately the rabbit sisters that owned the shop and inn also had another sister who was obsessed with human anatomy books she found washed up from the dump. She had said the human had lost a lot of blood, and on the surface humans could put more back in their body in hospitals. But here? The best that she could do was use her magic to stimulate the human’s heart to encourage it to make more blood faster.

Papyrus’ legs were shaking and his knees were clacking together. You sink back into your chair next to him and give him a side-hug. Wordless support was the best you could muster right now, as you melt back into the chair.

You allow your mind to wander. You weren’t ready to hope again, but you were so tired of giving up.

Please hang in there kid.

I don’t want to start over again.

10 days.

It’s been so long.

11 days.

Too long.

12 days.

You spend every moment you can waiting in the hallway. The bunny sister won’t allow you into the room, but she lets you sleep in the chair and gives you a blanket and pillow when you stay over night. Which was every night.

13 days.

14 days.

Papyrus joins you again today, a hopeful look on his face, and a box of spaghetti in his hands. You wish you could be that naive again. It must be nice, being able to hope again.

And then you hear screaming.

You and Papyrus and jump up and rush to the door. You rest your hand on the handle, knowing it’s locked. (You had already tried to sneak in once before). 

You can hear the rabbit sister comforting the human in calm hushed tones. The poor kid sounds panicked, but alive.

You chuckle meekly to yourself. If you had a heart, it’d be pounding so hard you’d need a de-fibula-tor.

“Where am I?” you hear the human ask.

“You’re in Snowdin honey.”

A groan, “No no no.” You hear the bed springs creak, assuming the human had flopped back down on the bed, “I’m not supposed to be here.”

“I’m sure you’re confused.” Kudos to the rabbit lady for keeping a comforting and calm tone, “Your friend brought you here after you were injur-“

“I don’t have any friends.” the human’s voice snapped sharply.

That stung. You felt Papyrus tense beside you and you turn to explain away what the human said, but he waved you away.

“HAVE SOME PUZZLES TO RECALIBRATE.” He muttered, mostly to himself, and marched stiffly down the hall. He hesitated by the trash can, and looked down at the spaghetti he had packed for the human, and threw it away. “IT PROBABLY WASN’T VERY GOOD ANYWAY.” He retreated down the stairs.

You were about to follow him, but then the door cracked open. “Thank you for your kindness but I can’t stay here. Oof!” The human bumped into you. “Oh! sans! Um hi!” Their cheeks turn pink and their eyes dart toward the door.

The human’s limbs were bandaged tightly, covering stitches that had sewn up the lacerations. You were so relieved the kid had survived. You had been so afraid of losing them again. Except, they didn’t even want to be here. You smile, concealing the hurt you feel inside, “look at you. all wrapped up with no where to go.” you chuckle sadly, “care to-“

“No.” the human stops you before you could ask, and pushes passed you. Running down the stairs and out into the cold.

Maybe it was good you didn’t have a heart, you think as you watch them disappear. It’d hurt a lot more if you had something to break.

“Wait!” the poor rabbit sister was completely flustered and tried to run after the human, but was too late. She turned to you, “Please. Go get them! Their wounds haven’t healed enough and I’m afraid their stitches will tear.”

“i don’t think they’d want me to do that.”

The rabbit sister folded her arms and frowned at you, “You want them to just die in the snow?”

You were gone.

 

The kid sure could move fast when they wanted to. You found them just outside of Snowdin. The all too familiar clearing where they’ve fought Papyrus on numerous occasions. Their body was face down in the snow, sweater fluttering in the breeze. You glance at the kid’s leg, and groaned. The rabbit sister had been right, the stitches had torn open, and snow was stained red.

You approach the kid from the right, and rest your hand on their back, and they flinch away. “hey, kid, come on. no need to give me the cold shoulder.”

The kid didn’t even move.

You bend down and try to help the kid up, but they punch weakly at your sternum. “Stop! Leave me alone! I don’t want to be here!”

You ignore their protests as you help them sit up. They continue to strike you and complain. Tears start to fall from their eyes, and their punches slow. Eventually the kid stops and is reduced to sobbing. You watch them and try to catch their eye, but they refuse to look at your face. The kid is crying so had they’re starting to hiccup. You reach up your hand to cup their chin and make them look at you, but they shirk away again.

Frustrated, you push the kid to the ground (somewhat gently), and pin them on their back. The kid let out a startled squeak, and finally looked up in your eyes, terrified.

“kid, i-“ you choked on the words in your nonexistent throat. Your boney fingers were resting on their shoulders, but the phalanges of your forefingers were resting near their neck, and you could feel their pulse thumping hard. “ah, hell.” you mutter and press your teeth to their forehead, hoping they would remember your special form of a kiss.

You released them and jerked up, feeling embarrassed. “sorry, i…i don’t know why i…” You steal a glance at the kid, and they look completely dazed. Tear stained face growing pinker by the second, and hand resting on their forehead.

“Did you just?” they whisper.

You swallow, trying to think of something witty, but for once nothing comes to mind.

The kid sits up slowly, thoughtfully, and reaches out their arm to you. Assuming they needed help up, you hold out your hand, but instead they tug you down and firmly press a kiss to your teeth. Your bones rattle as your whole body shudders. The weight and pain of the past suddenly felt a little easier to bear.

“I don’t want to leave yet.” they whisper.

“then don’t.” you say as you scoop them up in your arms and carry them back to Snowdin. The kid clutches your jacket, and nuzzles into your ribs.

You press one final kiss to their forehead as the rabbit sister takes them into the room to dress their wounds again.

Your smile felt a bit more sincere as you sank back into the chair.

Maybe you could let yourself hope again.

Just a little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry Papyrus! *sob* I'll make it up to you! T.T


	12. Always and Forever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader needs to patch up their friendship with Papyrus. Poor guy :(

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not really sure what to note here this time, but I just wanted to say I'm very happy and grateful for all the support everyone's given me. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story! ^.^ It's definitely gone a lot farther than I expected it to and I really hadn't planned on writing so much or even expecting to finish it. It seriously blows my mind that so many people have read it. It warms my heart that so many people have given me kudos too! I will not give up! :)

“What should I do sans?” You ask quietly.

“i dunno kid.”

You groan and hold your head in your hands. You’d been awake for a few days now, and the haunting fog of nightmares had finally cleared from your mind. The rabbit doctor had finally felt comfortable letting you leave the inn, and you were very grateful to her. She even used her magic to ease the pain in your leg. 

sans had offered to let you stay at his house. You agreed on the condition that once your wounds healed, you would leave.

The front door burst open and you and sans jump. 

“BROTHER I’M HOME! SORRY I WAS SO LATE I’LL GET STARTED ON DIN-“ Papyrus’ smile faltered when he saw you sitting on the couch. “OH THE HUMAN IS HERE.” He quickly turned and strode toward the kitchen.

“H-hey Papryus…” you squeak to his retreating back.

“too bad we can’t all just get a lung.”

You groan again, “sans now is not the time for puns.”

“hey any time is a good time for puns. my jokes are spleen-did.” You punch him in the arm and he chuckles.

“Come on sans help me.” He had told you that Papyrus had overheard you say some harsh things after waking from your terrors, and he hadn’t taken it well. sans had tried to cheer him up, but Papyrus would just run off and throw himself into work with his puzzles.

He grinned and leaned back on the couch, with his hands behind his skull, “i dunno kid, but you’ll have to tri-cep something.”

You frowned at him, “sans you’re being rib-iculous.” He threw back his head and laughed, and you tugged on his sleeve. “Ok, I gave you a pun. Now help me.”

He ruffled your hair, “ok kid. relax, papyrus doesn’t let anything under his skin.” He helped you stand up and hobble to the kitchen. Once he leaned you against the counter he coughed, “hey, bro, the human wanted to talk to you.”

Great sans. Very helpful.

Papyrus didn’t even turn around. He just continued to furiously stir whatever was in the pot.

“Hey, um, Paps…” you mumble, and Papyrus stiffened and let go of the spoon. It swirled around in the pot a few times before coming to a stop. He was breathing hard, but still wouldn’t turn around. You glanced to your side to ask sans what you should do next, but he was gone.

Wow. Two for two sans. Nice.

Papyrus braced himself on the counter, and you leaned to the side to try and see his face, but all you could see was the side of his jaw as his teeth ground back and forth. “WHAT IS IT HUMAN?” His voice was devoid of his usual cheerful tones, but at least it wasn’t cruel.

“I, uh, wanted to thank you for…saving me.”

“NO NEED TO THANK ME HUMAN. SANS ASKED ME TO DO IT.”

“Right.” You look down at the floor and pinch the side of your arm. Now what?

The kitchen was filled with a heavy, uneasy silence. Papyrus just stood there, unmoving, and the liquid in the pot started to boil over.

You cleared your throat again and search for something to say, but nothing comes. You chew your lip awkwardly and all you can think to say is, “Um…”

Finally he sighs and turns around, “IS THERE SOMETHING ELSE YOU WANTED HUMAN?” is eye sockets were blank.

“Paps I-“

His body shivered and his cheekbones turned pink. “DON’T CALL ME THAT. PLEASE.” His voice shifted to a whine and he inhaled a shaky breath and his head and shoulders sagged.

“Why can’t I call you that anymore?”

“BECAUSE…IT WAS A NICKNAME YOU GAVE ME. AND YOU CAN ONLY GIVE FRIENDS NICKNAMES.” His words were dripping with heartache, and he shivered again. You were afraid that if you touched him, he might shatter.

“But we are friends.” You use the counter to shift your body closer to him.

His head shot up and eye sockets stared right into your eyes, tears starting to flow. “NO WE’RE NOT. YOU SAID WE WEREN’T.”

You reach out to comfort him, but he flinches from your hand and turns away again. You look around the room searching for sans, wondering what you should do.

Hm, maybe this could work. You couldn’t really make it any worse at this point. You limp a little closer to him, and eye the pot that he’s returned to stirring.

“You know, you’re right. We aren’t friends.” You wince a little as he lets out a choked sob and continue, “Do you know why though?”

“NO.” he mumbles sadly as he stares at the water swirling in the pot. At least it wasn’t boiling over anymore.

You shift your body and lean into him, looking up and hoping he will meet your eyes, and smile when he does. “Because we’re best friends.”

The pot has been abandoned once again as his eyes light up. “WE ARE?!”

You chuckle, “Yes we are. You’ve been promoted to BFF. Do you know what that is?”

He shakes his head back and forth and is practically jumping up and down eagerly.

“It means best friends forever.” you say it, and mentally kick yourself for using such a lame term, but you’re relieved you were able to patch your friendship.

“WOWIE! FIRST FRIEND ZONE AND NOW BFF?” He gave you a tight squeeze, “I’M SORRY I WAS MAD AT YOU HUMAN. I SHOULD NEVER HAVE DOUBTED YOU.”

You pat him on the back and he releases you, his eyes thoughtful. “SO FOREVER. THAT MEANS WE’LL ALWAYS BE FRIENDS RIGHT?”

“Yeah. Always and forever.” You grin at him.

And just like that everything was back to normal. Papyrus finally remembered to add noodles to the water and you helped him make the sauce. You set the table and called sans down to eat while Papyrus dished up the plates. You blush as Papyrus stares in awe as you eat, and sans just cracks a few more jokes and slyly avoids eating any of the spaghetti. Which is a shame, because with your help it didn’t turn out too bad.

Everything feels good.

Everything feels happy.

You all settle to watch a movie on the couch. Papyrus and sans on either side of you, and you stuck with the middle. But you didn’t care. Papyrus grabbed a blanket and tossed it over you three and you snuggled into the covers.

Everything was warm.

Everything was safe.

sans made some joke about bone buddies and Papyrus yelled at him for being inappropriate. sans had a field day over the redness of your face, and suggested roasting marshmallows. You shot him a look to shut him up, but he just laughed harder.

Always and forever.

Suddenly, your vision blackened and your friends melted away. The warmth of their home felt like a distant memory, and you found yourself in a field of snow. You were standing over…something, but couldn’t make out what it was. You watched as your hands reached up and the metal of a knife shone in the dark. You watch your hand stab down, again and again, and your feet stomp and crack something beneath them.

They were…

Oh god…

They were…

Bones.

You hear your laughter, maniacal and sinister, escaping your mouth. More ribs crack. Then you hear a weak and familiar voice.

“HUMAN PLEASE STOP.” his voice is so weak and quiet. “I-I KNOW THERE IS STILL GOOD IN YOU.” Your body moves on it’s own and approaches the skull. Looking down you see Papyrus’ skull was tossed aside, forced to watch his body destroyed.

You feel the muscles of your face pull back into a sneer and your foot lifts up to rest on the skull. No! You scream in your mind. Please don’t! You try to fight it but you can’t control your body. The foot stomps down, crushing the skull, and the lights within Papyrus’ eyes fade away. His bones are reduced to dust in the wind.

“what did you do?” you hear an anguished shout.

Your body turns, and you still feel the sneer on your face. sans.

He stands a few feet from you, chest heaving, mouth agape, eyes burning. Burning with hate. Hatred for you.

“what did you do?” he screams again, left eye burning blue.

 

Your vision returns and you’re lying on your back across the couch. You sit up quickly, gasping for air, and clutch your head. It’s pounding painfully, and you glance around the room. Papyrus and sans are kneeling next to the couch watching you. Papyrus looks worried sick, and sans looks a bit more guarded.

“ARE YOU OK?” Papyrus asks.

“I don’t know.” you answer honestly.

“what happened?” sans’ questioned you cautiously.

“I’m not sure.” again you answer honestly. You feel a lot of strange emotions, but you have no idea why. Guilt. Shame. Fear.

You look to sans and judging by his expression, all those feelings were clearly written on your face. His eye sockets were dark and his smile tense.

“do you remember anything?” he whispers.

“No.” you look down at your hands, hating to disappoint him, but you really had no idea. Something…something bad happened. Something that made you very sad.

“that’s probably for the best.” he mutters to himself. Then he says a little louder, “so uh, papyrus shouldn’t we start the movie again?”

Papyrus’ eyes flicked between you and sans, still worried. After a moment he decided you were ok and retrieved the remote. He returned to his spot on the far right side of the couch, behind your back, and sans slowly stood up, still watching you carefully.

You place your hands on the couch to shift your body and move your legs for him, but he stopped you. Instead he carefully scooped up your legs, settled in his spot, and rested your legs across his lap. You don’t even look a the screen as the movie starts to play, confused by his actions. His eye sockets are glued to the T.V. and his hands are resting over your shins.

You want to say something, but everything you can think of just sounds awkward. You shift your torso to see the movie better and decide to just ignore him.

That wasn’t too hard.

Until he started to trace circles on your knees.

You flick your eyes to sans, with an eyebrow raised. He’s still just watching the movie.

You shrug and decide to chalk it up to strange monster skeleton behavior. It’s probably best to not play into his game. Besides, it wasn’t that hard to ignore.

Until…the circles started tracing up your leg to your mid thigh. Your leg twitch as the lazy circles tickled you. You turned to slap his hand away, but couldn’t move when you saw his eyes.

He watched you as he traced another slow circle on your thigh, slightly looping it from the inner part of your leg just above the knee, with a wistful gleam in his eye. He watched you squint at him and chuckled quietly as your leg twitched again when he tickled a nerve. His next loop was slightly higher, and your cheeks felt a little warmer. He tilted his head to the side thoughtfully.

“SANS WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Papyrus asked accusingly, pausing the movie. The circles finally stopped.

“oh, nothing.” 

Papyrus narrowed his eyes, “OH REALLY? I THINK YOU’RE DOING SOMETHING.”

sans’ hands retreat from your legs to support the back of his skull. He shrugs, “nah.”

“I THINK YOU’RE TRYING TO OUTRANK ME. BUT IT WILL NOT WORK BECAUSE I AM THE HUMAN’S BEST FRIEND FOREVER!” your giggle is cut short as Papyrus’ arm loops around you and he pulls you to his chest.

“Ack!” his radius is digging into your neck and blocking your airways.

sans snickers as he watches your face turn slightly blue, “yeah guess you caught me bro. i just can’t beat you.”

“NYEH HEH HEH.”

“Tap out! I tap out!” you wheeze.

“WHAT WAS THAT HUMAN?” Papyrus releases you and you collapse on his lap.

After a few gulps of air, still slightly wheezy, you say, “Tap out. It’s a wrestling thing. When your opponent submits or surrenders from your, um, attack.” You breath heavily, “When someone taps out it means you win and you let them go.” before you accidentally suffocate them.

“OH. SEE SANS? THE HUMAN SAYS I WON SO I GET TO BE THEIR BEST FRIEND.”

“That’s not how it works.” you mutter quietly to yourself and sans chuckles.

You sit up again but when you see Papyrus pout you give in and lean your back into his ribs. He happily wraps his arm around your waist and starts the movie again. You can’t say you ever thought you’d find yourself having a movie night with two skeletons, but you’re not complaining either. You smile to yourself and feel happy that you have such good friends. You shifted again to get more comfortable leaning into Papyrus. You all laugh and comment about the movie as it plays and you finally let yourself relax. It really is a terrible movie. You’re not surprised they found it in the dump. You didn’t even notice that a boney hand had returned to your thigh until a thumb slowly stroked just below your hip. 

You gasp under your breath and looked at sans again. The wistful gleam was back in his eyes, he winked, and gave your leg a light squeeze.

Your cheeks heated in response and you quickly turned away as he snickered.

You definitely did not expect to find yourself in a situation like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh and I did think of something to notate. After a few days of the poll (thanks so much for all the votes) the option for three versions of the chapter won! This'll be interesting (eh heh heh oh Skel what have you gotten yourself into?). I will do my best to make three versions that are each fun to read in their own way but it will take me a bit longer to get them done. I want to publish them all at the same time lol. Also I will notate at the beginning which one is which so you can skip to whatever version you wanted :)


	13. Date With sans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader tries to leave Snowdin before they're fully recovered and they end up going on a date with sans!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok guys, I'm sorry it took me a few days. This is the fluffy version. The next two chapters will be basically the same chapter with a few alterations. If you don't want smut then please skip those two chapters.

It has been a few weeks now since you’ve been sleeping on the couch at the skelebro’s house. It hasn’t started feeling any less awkward, and you’re not sure how you’ll ever pay them back, but at least they don’t seem annoyed by your company. Your arm was healing up nicely, and your leg wasn’t doing too bad either. You could limp around a bit, and only needed to lean on something now and then to catch your breath.

Papyrus was out recalibrating his puzzles and sans was…well you had no idea where he was but you assume he was off napping somewhere. You decide to take this opportunity to head out. You didn’t want to overstay your welcome, and come on no one is great with goodbyes.

Especially when they felt so…final.

After tidying up the living room a bit you tip toe toward the door. Glancing back quickly towards sans’ bedroom you hold your breath and open the front door slowly. Ok. No response so far. You wince a little as the door creaks, and glance again. Still no response. Good. You hold your breath and sneak outside, gently closing the door after you.

“where ya going, buddy?”

You yelp in surprise turn around quickly, “sans! Um, hey! I didn’t know you were awake.” You laugh nervously.

He squints his eye sockets at you, and grins, “yeah i just got back from helping papyrus with some puzzles.”

“Oh, that’s uh great!” your voice is shaky, still embarrassed that you were caught. You shift uncomfortably.

He notices of course. His eyes flick all over you, “you didn’t answer my question. where ya going buddy?” He asked a bit more firmly.

“Um, you know…Waterfall?” You admit sheepishly.

sans’ eyes gaze at your bandaged leg, “that doesn’t look very healed.”

“Well no but I can walk pretty good.” you look down at the ground.

sans huffs and shoves his hands in his pockets, causing you to look up again, “nah that won’t do kid. we had a deal. you stay till you’re fully healed.”

“B-but that’ll take fore-“ 

He cuts you off, “but if you’re getting bored with the scenery, i wouldn’t mind taking you for a short visit to waterfall.” He gives you a wink.

You consider for a moment and weigh your options. You really can’t stay for another few weeks or a month, that’d be way too much to ask of them. Maybe if he took you through some of Waterfall you could have a chance to sneak away.

He interrupts your thoughts just as they come to mind, “i wouldn’t try sneakin’ away either.” He winked again, “i know a lot of short cuts.”

You sigh, knowing he was right, “Fine. I guess we can go.”

“great.” His grin seems wider, “let’s go.” He loops his arm through yours and you feel the odd sensation of being transported again.

 

He takes you to a smaller, hidden cavern within Waterfall. You aren’t quite sure where it’s located, or how far within Waterfall it is. You chew your lip. Running off on your own definitely wasn’t an option. The last thing you need is limping around lost in a dark maze.

The cavern is secluded, rocks glow from above, and a small stream trickles through. The water reflects the lights, and you watch it sparkle and dance as the liquid rushes on. You can see sans watching you reflected in the water. You glance up to see his face, and he looks away quickly, a light blush tinting his cheeks.

He’s been acting a little odd since you had woken up and agreed to recover at their home, but you had no idea why. He’s still avoiding your gaze, so you squat down near the stream and pick up a stick and swirl it in the water, trying to remember.

You do remember the nightmares, and shudder. Let’s skip that part and think a bit more. You woke up abruptly, and disoriented. You swirl a little whirlpool, and tap your fingers on your knee. What next? You saw him, and felt bad. You ran away. You swish the whirlpool away and try to start another one going the other direction. Ok what happened after that?

sans finally decided to sit down next to you, but stared quietly at the bubbling brook. You return to focusing on making your whirlpool. Think harder. It was cold. Well no duh you were back in Snowdin, so that doesn’t really help. You were hurt, and your limbs were burning despite the cold. You had fallen down and sans found you and then…

And then…

You drop the stick and didn’t even see it drift away in the water. You quickly moved your hands up to your face, hoping the coolness of your fingers would quell the fire that began to burn beneath your cheeks.

He kissed you on the forehead.

You kissed him.

You kissed sans!

Like, on the mouth!

Well, teeth, but still, it counted!

“hey.” he whispers, snapping you back to reality.

“Nuuyeeah?!” you jump and your blush reddens more. Silently thanking the cavern for it’s formerly spooky shadows, you clear your throat and try again, “Yeah?”

He still hasn’t looked at you, and you sigh quietly with relief. “have you had any more…dreams? like about undyne, snowdin, papyrus, or…me?”

A haunting cackling voice echoes in your mind, and you shiver. “No.” you whisper as an inexplicable wave of shame washes over you.

“oh.” he whispers back just as quietly.

You thread your fingers together, and chew the inside of your cheek. You wanted to talk to him about it, but it felt better to keep it to yourself. What if it wasn’t really just a nightmare? What if the terrible things you had seen were…real? You couldn’t remember them clearly, but some involved Papyrus and other monsters and they hadn’t been good. You close your eyes and exhale slowly, trying to calm your nerves. They weren’t real. They couldn’t be real.

“hey.” sans says again.

“Yes?”

sans is still gazing at the steam, “isn’t the water interesting? it just flows on forever, but,” he picks up a rock and chucks it in the water, watching it splash and ripple, “a simple action can disrupt the flow.” He grit his teeth and waved his hand, and a row of bones appeared and blocked the stream, “or end it completely.” He lets the water dam up on one side, and watches the levels change, then waves his hand again and the bones disappear. “then it just carries on before, like nothing happened.” He ground his teeth some more, “just waiting to be manipulated or altered again and not able to do anything to stop it.”

You try to catch his eye, but he just stares down at his hands lost in thought. You swallow and absentmindedly knead at the mud of the riverbed.

Then you had an idea. You stand up and start to dig. He doesn’t look at you or pay you any mind, and you complete your semi circle around him easily. The dirt was soft and loose. You also found a few small echo flower seedlings slightly buried in the earth. You carefully transfer them to either side of the little trench you’ve made around sans.

“what are you doing?” sans looks up at you, puzzled.

You ignore him for the moment.

Now for the last part. You dig out the small patches of dirt that divide the stream from your little trench, and the water flows out the stream, around sans, and returns to the body of water. You rinse your hands in the brook and smile at your handy work. The echo flower seedlings seem to perk up a bit at the drink.

sans just stares at you, glances around at the water rushing around him, and back at you. Utter confusion on his face.

You smile shyly at him, “You know, sometimes the river can be manipulated permanently.” you point at the seedlings, “And that can be a good thing. It changes the world for the better.” He gives you a funny look, and you plush and glance down at your feet. “Because, um, now the flowers will get enough water to grow…” Even though that’s why you did it, deep down inside you felt like you had wanted to convey something more to him.

You had no idea what that was, but it appeared to have worked. He exhaled a shaky breath, and it almost looked like there was a small tear in his eye socket. He stood up quickly, pulled you onto his island, and embraced you. He shivered against you, and you stroked his spine to comfort him.

He pulled away slightly, and pressed his teeth to your mouth. You gasp and step back, tripping over your trench and falling on your butt into the mud.

The lights in his eyes flashed with concern, and he started to reach out his hand to help you up, but let it hang between you, not sure if you’d take it. You stare at it awkwardly, waiting for the temperature of your face to go down.

He moves his hand to scratch the back of his skull and laughs nervously, “i-uh, i’m sorry, kid. i didn’t mean to-“

“Why do you call me kid?” you ask abruptly, catching him off guard.

“uh, what?”

You fold your arms in front of you, and puff out your chest, “By human years I’m not a kid. I’m a young adult.” You grin at him and stick out your tongue.

He laughs at you, and you reach out to him, silently requesting his assistance to help you up. As he does he says, “well i guess i’ll call you young adult then, young adult.”

You try to dust yourself off as best you can, but don’t make much progress. “Young adult sounds creepy when you say it. Go back to kid.”

He chuckles again, and your heart skips at the sound, “alright then, kid.” He coughs, “i really am sorry about that.” He gestures his hand between you, “i shouldn’t have-”

Before he could finish, you put your hands on both his cheekbones and pressed a kiss just above his nasal cavity, and you smile as he sucks in a breath.

“It’s ok.” you kiss underneath each eye socket, and revel as his breathing becomes unsteady. “Thanks for finding me that night.” You move your thumbs so you can peck each of his cheekbones, and he lets out a shaky sigh, “And always being there for me.” You kiss underneath either side of his jawbone, and he lets out a soft moan and pulls you closer. 

You open your mouth to say more, but he says, “can i just kiss you again, please? i’ve waited so long.” You’re not quite sure what he means by that, but you relent, and he presses another skele-kiss to your lips. You feel his phalanges dig into your back through your sweater as he pulls you closer. He moves down, pressing his special kisses along your jaw, and down your neck. He nibbles gently on your neck and shoulders, making you giggle.

It ended too soon as he pulls away, gazing at you thoughtfully. “you know, for a young adult, you’re pretty messy.” You punch him in the arm, “hey it’s not my fault you need a bath.”

You glare at him, “Yeah it is!”

He strokes your cheek, “yeah i guess you caught me red-handed.” and you roll your eyes and shove him again. He snickers at you, “c’mon let’s head back.”

In a wink you are both back in their house. Well, more specifically, in the bathroom at their house. sans leans against the door, smirking at you.

You cross your arms, “Ah-hem do you mind?”

“no not at all.” he winks.

You sigh, and throw a towel at him, “Get out!”

He snickers again, and as he leaves he says, “geez no need to be so amino about it.”

You shake your head, and carefully watch the door as you prep for the shower. Fortunately, sans is a good guy, uh skeleton, and wouldn’t be a total sleaze.

 

After your shower you feel warm and refreshed. You borrowed one of sans’ pairs of sweatpants and a jacket. The pants were a bit baggy, weird considering he wasn’t even skin and bone he was just bone, but you were able to tie them off with the drawstring. As you exit the bathroom, you see sans’ glance up from the couch and let out a low whistle.

“i like your style, kid.”

You roll your eyes as you limp down the stairs, “Well you should, since it’s yours.” and plop down next to him. You snuggle into his ribcage, and he wraps his arm around you.

As the robot hosted quiz show ends, and kicks up with a robot hosted cooking show, sans shifts a bit.

“What’s up?” you ask and gaze up at him.

“nothing.” he says, blushing slightly.

“What?” you sit up and raise and eyebrow.

He laughs shyly, “heh, i was just thinkin’ about you and…” he drifts off, but you’re not going to let him get away.

“And?” you ask with a smirk on your face and tickle his ribs.

He swats your hand away, “and it just feels good to cuddle with you and i’d like to…”

“Like to what?” You tickle his ribs again and giggle when he swats you away again.

His cheekbones redden and he glances away, “i’d like it if you uh cuddled with me tonight…”

Now your cheeks are red and you’re struggling to find the words to respond, “I, uh, I mean, um.”

He flicks a shy look at you, “you don’t have to.”

He was adorable. “No that sounds like fun, and to be honest the couch is great and all but my back is killing me lately.”

He laughs, “i thought you said you were a young adult.”

You shoot him a look, “Watch yourself buddy.”

He grinned again, “i think you do plenty of that for me.”

He snickers as you are once again at a loss for words, and clicks the remote to turn the T.V. off. He stands up and stretches, and offers you his hand. Once you grasp it you’re suddenly sitting on his bed and he stands grinning in front of you.

“You really like doing that don’t you?”

He sits down besides you, “well you know i’m a lazybones. why walk when i don’t have to?” He kicks off his slippers, settles into bed, and pats the spot next to him.

You burrow under the covers, and he wraps his arms around you. His skull is nuzzled into your neck and he sighs contentedly. You stroke his skull and listen to his breathing slow as he drifts off to sleep. You kiss the top of his skull lightly, and he mumbles quietly, “i’ve waited so long for you to come back. please…stay…”


	14. Date With sans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader tries to leave Snowdin before they're fully recovered and they end up going on a date with sans!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Female Version of Smut
> 
> Ok so this is my first attempt at smut. It's still kinda tame I guess? lol I tried -.- if people think it's ok then cool maybe I'll try some more. If not then we can all just pretend this didn't happen eh heh heh.

It has been a few weeks now since you’ve been sleeping on the couch at the skelebro’s house. It hasn’t started feeling any less awkward, and you’re not sure how you’ll ever pay them back, but at least they don’t seem annoyed by your company. Your arm was healing up nicely, and your leg wasn’t doing too bad either. You could limp around a bit, and only needed to lean on something now and then to catch your breath.

Papyrus was out recalibrating his puzzles and sans was…well you had no idea where he was but you assume he was off napping somewhere. You decide to take this opportunity to head out. You didn’t want to overstay your welcome, and come on no one is great with goodbyes.

Especially when they felt so…final.

After tidying up the living room a bit you tip toe toward the door. Glancing back quickly towards sans’ bedroom you hold your breath and open the front door slowly. Ok. No response so far. You wince a little as the door creaks, and glance again. Still no response. Good. You hold your breath and sneak outside, gently closing the door after you.

“where ya going, buddy?”

You yelp in surprise turn around quickly, “sans! Um, hey! I didn’t know you were awake.” You laugh nervously.

He squints his eye sockets at you, and grins, “yeah i just got back from helping papyrus with some puzzles.”

“Oh, that’s uh great!” your voice is shaky, still embarrassed that you were caught. You shift uncomfortably.

He notices of course. His eyes flick all over you, “you didn’t answer my question. where ya going buddy?” He asked a bit more firmly.

“Um, you know…Waterfall?” You admit sheepishly.

sans’ eyes gaze at your bandaged leg, “that doesn’t look very healed.”

“Well no but I can walk pretty good.” you look down at the ground.

sans huffs and shoves his hands in his pockets, causing you to look up again, “nah that won’t do kid. we had a deal. you stay till you’re fully healed.”

“B-but that’ll take fore-“ 

He cuts you off, “but if you’re getting bored with the scenery, i wouldn’t mind taking you for a short visit to waterfall.” He gives you a wink.

You consider for a moment and weigh your options. You really can’t stay for another few weeks or a month, that’d be way too much to ask of them. Maybe if he took you through some of Waterfall you could have a chance to sneak away.

He interrupts your thoughts just as they come to mind, “i wouldn’t try sneakin’ away either.” He winked again, “i know a lot of short cuts.”

You sigh, knowing he was right, “Fine. I guess we can go.”

“great.” His grin seems wider, “let’s go.” He loops his arm through yours and you feel the odd sensation of being transported again.

 

He takes you to a smaller, hidden cavern within Waterfall. You aren’t quite sure where it’s located, or how far within Waterfall it is. You chew your lip. Running off on your own definitely wasn’t an option. The last thing you need is limping around lost in a dark maze.

The cavern is secluded, rocks glow from above, and a small stream trickles through. The water reflects the lights, and you watch it sparkle and dance as the liquid rushes on. You can see sans watching you reflected in the water. You glance up to see his face, and he looks away quickly, a light blush tinting his cheeks.

He’s been acting a little odd since you had woken up and agreed to recover at their home, but you had no idea why. He’s still avoiding your gaze, so you squat down near the stream and pick up a stick and swirl it in the water, trying to remember.

You do remember the nightmares, and shudder. Let’s skip that part and think a bit more. You woke up abruptly, and disoriented. You swirl a little whirlpool, and tap your fingers on your knee. What next? You saw him, and felt bad. You ran away. You swish the whirlpool away and try to start another one going the other direction. Ok what happened after that?

sans finally decided to sit down next to you, but stared quietly at the bubbling brook. You return to focusing on making your whirlpool. Think harder. It was cold. Well no duh you were back in Snowdin, so that doesn’t really help. You were hurt, and your limbs were burning despite the cold. You had fallen down and sans found you and then…

And then…

You drop the stick and didn’t even see it drift away in the water. You quickly moved your hands up to your face, hoping the coolness of your fingers would quell the fire that began to burn beneath your cheeks.

He kissed you on the forehead.

You kissed him.

You kissed sans!

Like, on the mouth!

Well, teeth, but still, it counted!

“hey.” he whispers, snapping you back to reality.

“Nuuyeeah?!” you jump and your blush reddens more. Silently thanking the cavern for it’s formerly spooky shadows, you clear your throat and try again, “Yeah?”

He still hasn’t looked at you, and you sigh quietly with relief. “have you had any more…dreams? like about undyne, snowdin, papyrus, or…me?”

A haunting cackling voice echoes in your mind, and you shiver. “No.” you whisper as an inexplicable wave of shame washes over you.

“oh.” he whispers back just as quietly.

You thread your fingers together, and chew the inside of your cheek. You wanted to talk to him about it, but it felt better to keep it to yourself. What if it wasn’t really just a nightmare? What if the terrible things you had seen were…real? You couldn’t remember them clearly, but some involved Papyrus and other monsters and they hadn’t been good. You close your eyes and exhale slowly, trying to calm your nerves. They weren’t real. They couldn’t be real.

“hey.” sans says again.

“Yes?”

sans is still gazing at the steam, “isn’t the water interesting? it just flows on forever, but,” he picks up a rock and chucks it in the water, watching it splash and ripple, “a simple action can disrupt the flow.” He grit his teeth and waved his hand, and a row of bones appeared and blocked the stream, “or end it completely.” He lets the water dam up on one side, and watches the levels change, then waves his hand again and the bones disappear. “then it just carries on before, like nothing happened.” He ground his teeth some more, “just waiting to be manipulated or altered again and not able to do anything to stop it.”

You try to catch his eye, but he just stares down at his hands lost in thought. You swallow and absentmindedly knead at the mud of the riverbed.

Then you had an idea. You stand up and start to dig. He doesn’t look at you or pay you any mind, and you complete your semi circle around him easily. The dirt was soft and loose. You also found a few small echo flower seedlings slightly buried in the earth. You carefully transfer them to either side of the little trench you’ve made around sans.

“what are you doing?” sans looks up at you, puzzled.

You ignore him for the moment.

Now for the last part. You dig out the small patches of dirt that divide the stream from your little trench, and the water flows out the stream, around sans, and returns to the body of water. You rinse your hands in the brook and smile at your handy work. The echo flower seedlings seem to perk up a bit at the drink.

sans just stares at you, glances around at the water rushing around him, and back at you. Utter confusion on his face.

You smile shyly at him, “You know, sometimes the river can be manipulated permanently.” you point at the seedlings, “And that can be a good thing. It changes the world for the better.” He gives you a funny look, and you plush and glance down at your feet. “Because, um, now the flowers will get enough water to grow…” Even though that’s why you did it, deep down inside you felt like you had wanted to convey something more to him.

You had no idea what that was, but it appeared to have worked. He exhaled a shaky breath, and it almost looked like there was a small tear in his eye socket. He stood up quickly, pulled you onto his island, and embraced you. He shivered against you, and you stroked his spine to comfort him.

He pulled away slightly, and pressed his teeth to your mouth. You gasp and step back, tripping over your trench and falling on your butt into the mud.

The lights in his eyes flashed with concern, and he started to reach out his hand to help you up, but let it hang between you, not sure if you’d take it. You stare at it awkwardly, waiting for the temperature of your face to go down.

He moves his hand to scratch the back of his skull and laughs nervously, “i-uh, i’m sorry, kid. i didn’t mean to-“

“Why do you call me kid?” you ask abruptly, catching him off guard.

“uh, what?”

You fold your arms in front of you, and puff out your chest, “By human years I’m not a kid. I’m a young adult.” You grin at him and stick out your tongue.

He laughs at you, and you reach out to him, silently requesting his assistance to help you up. As he does he says, “well i guess i’ll call you young adult then, young adult.”

You try to dust yourself off as best you can, but don’t make much progress. “Young adult sounds creepy when you say it. Go back to kid.”

He chuckles again, and your heart skips at the sound, “alright then, kid.” He coughs, “i really am sorry about that.” He gestures his hand between you, “i shouldn’t have-”

Before he could finish, you put your hands on both his cheekbones and pressed a kiss just above his nasal cavity, and you smile as he sucks in a breath.

“It’s ok.” you kiss underneath each eye socket, and revel as his breathing becomes unsteady. “Thanks for finding me that night.” You move your thumbs so you can peck each of his cheekbones, and he lets out a shaky sigh, “And always being there for me.” You kiss underneath either side of his jawbone, and he lets out a soft moan and pulls you closer. 

You open your mouth to say more, but he says, “can i just kiss you again, please? i’ve waited so long.” You’re not quite sure what he means by that, but you relent, and he presses another skele-kiss to your lips. You feel his phalanges dig into your back through your sweater as he pulls you closer. He moves down, pressing his special kisses along your jaw, and down your neck. He nibbles gently on your neck and shoulders, making you giggle.

It ended too soon as he pulls away, gazing at you thoughtfully. “you know, for a young adult, you’re pretty messy.” You punch him in the arm, “hey it’s not my fault you need a bath.”

You glare at him, “Yeah it is!”

He strokes your cheek, “yeah i guess you caught me red-handed.” and you roll your eyes and shove him again. He snickers at you, “c’mon let’s head back.”

In a wink you are both back in their house. Well, more specifically, in the bathroom at their house. sans leans against the door, smirking at you.

You cross your arms, “Ah-hem do you mind?”

“no not at all.” he winks.

You sigh, and throw a towel at him, “Get out!”

He snickers again, and as he leaves he says, “geez no need to be so amino about it.”

You shake your head, and carefully watch the door as you prep for the shower. Fortunately, sans is a good guy, uh skeleton, and wouldn’t be a total sleaze.

 

After your shower you feel warm and refreshed. You borrowed one of sans’ pairs of sweatpants and a jacket. The pants were a bit baggy, weird considering he wasn’t even skin and bone he was just bone, but you were able to tie them off with the drawstring. As you exit the bathroom, you see sans’ glance up from the couch and let out a low whistle.

“i like your style, kid.”

You roll your eyes as you limp down the stairs, “Well you should, since it’s yours.” and plop down next to him. You snuggle into his ribcage, and he wraps his arm around you.

As the robot hosted quiz show ends, and kicks up with a robot hosted cooking show, sans shifts a bit.

“What’s up?” you ask and gaze up at him.

“nothing.” he says, blushing slightly.

“What?” you sit up and raise and eyebrow.

He laughs shyly, “heh, i was just thinkin’ about you and…” he drifts off, but you’re not going to let him get away.

“And?” you ask with a smirk on your face and tickle his ribs.

He swats your hand away, “and it just feels good to cuddle with you and i’d like to…”

“Like to what?” You tickle his ribs again and giggle when he swats you away again.

His cheekbones redden and he glances away, “i’d like it if you uh cuddled with me tonight…”

Now your cheeks are red and you’re struggling to find the words to respond, “I, uh, I mean, um.”

He flicks a shy look at you, “you don’t have to.”

He was adorable. “No that sounds like fun, and to be honest the couch is great and all but my back is killing me lately.”

He laughs, “i thought you said you were a young adult.”

You shoot him a look, “Watch yourself buddy.”

He grinned again, “i think you do plenty of that for me.”

He snickers as you are once again at a loss for words, and clicks the remote to turn the T.V. off. He stands up and stretches, and offers you his hand. Once you grasp it you’re suddenly sitting on his bed and he stands grinning in front of you.

“You really like doing that don’t you?”

He sits down besides you, “well you know i’m a lazybones. why walk when i don’t have to?” He kicks off his slippers, settles into bed, and pats the spot next to him.

You settle down next to them and start to pull the covers over yourself, but sans grabs your wrist and stops you. He looks your body up and down, with an odd gleam in his eye.

“hey, kid.” he swallows with his nonexistent throat. “did i ever tell you how beautiful you are?” he whispered.

You blush again, and try to answer but only manage a few choked out sounds.

He sighs softly, releases your wrist, and strokes your face, down your neck, to your collarbone, down to where the zipper ends on the jacket. You hadn’t zipped it up all the way, and the phalange of his pointer finger was resting on your sternum. You wonder if he can feel your heart pounding. He just watches you as your chest heaves up and down as your breathing becomes uneven.

He traces your exposed skin of your collarbones and neck, and smiles “You’re so soft, and warm.” He moans slightly as his finger bone dips just beneath the jacket and strokes the top of your breast. He withdraws his hand and rests it at his side. The lights in his eyes gaze at yours, burning with a conflicted hunger.

You inhale a shaky breath, and tentatively lift a hand up to unzip the jacket. He watches as it slowly slides down and waits patiently as you open the jacket, exposing your torso. He inhales unevenly and looks at you again. His smile is eager, but his eyes are shy, like he’s waiting for you to reject him. 

You reach out your hand to his and place it on your breast, groaning softly as his phalanges and metacarpals squeeze it lightly. He sucks in a breath and traces slow circles around your nipples. You sigh happily and he nuzzles close, and nibbles on your neck and shoulders as his hands run up and down your body. You massage the back of his skull, and trace his cheekbones lightly.

“you’re so warm.” he whispers again as you let out a soft moan. He pinches your nipples lightly and you arch your back into him. He chuckles into your neck, and his hands stroke down your body and he massages your hips with his thumbs. You buck a little as it tickles and he chuckles again. He reaches down to untie the drawstring and you tense. He freezes and looks up at you again, “i don’t have to-“

You lean up and press a kiss to his teeth and smile as his bones rattle. “It’s ok. I was just surprised.”

“ok. i’ll stop whenever you want me to ok? just promise to tell me if you’re uncomfortable.” He gazes at you with a concerned look in his eye sockets.

You giggle and kiss him above the nasal cavity and he shivers again, “I promise I will.”

Satisfied he resumed untying the drawstring and removing your pants. After he got them off your ankles he sat between your legs, and froze.

“Wh-what?” you ask nervously and start to pull away. 

His boney hands grip your thighs, and he whispers, “wait.” You stop. “i just want to admire you for a moment.” Your cheeks flush, but you can’t help but feel a little flattered with the way he’s looking at you. The lights in his eyes shine with affection for you as he scans your body. He leans up and presses a kiss to your lips. He continues to kiss you down your neck, across your breasts, down to your navel, and nips you on the hip.

He looks up at you with a mischievous grin, and you lean up to ask him what he’s planning but suddenly you feel him stroking your entrance lightly. You gasp and jump a little and he chuckles. He wraps his right arm underneath your thigh and uses it to hold your hip down. He gazes at you as he traces light circles at you entrance and watches you squirm.

“you really are beautiful.” he says as he continues to tease you.

You try to come up with a snappy remark but end up sucking in a sharp breath as he taunts your opening. He presses kisses to your inner thigh, slowly inching closer to your entrance, but stops short and chuckles quietly. “look how wet you’re getting. do you want more?”

“Yes.” you whisper.

“what was that?”

“Yes!” you moan.

He chuckles again, “alright don’t need to be so de-mandible.” He slowly thrusts his phalange inside you and you choke back whatever retort you had. He hisses in a breath as he feels your warm walls surround him, “so soft and tight.” He thrusts his finger bone in and out slowly and gazes at you affectionately, “you’re so beautiful.”

“sans!” you moan. That’s all you can say, but he knows what you want. He inserts a second finger into you, and strokes your clit with his thumb as he thrusts. The bones of his right hand dig into your stomach as he holds you in place while he thrusts faster.

You try to buck your hips, but he holds you firmly in place. He applies more pressure to your clit and you throw back your head and moan. He presses more kisses to your inner thigh and thrusts harder, and you bite your lip trying to hold it in.

“cum for me.” he whispers, so close to your entrance you feel his warm breath. Your body shudders, but you’re not ready to give in quite yet. He gazes at you from between your legs, and his mouth is slightly open, breathing heavily.

The primal hunger in his eyes is so sexy, “sans I-“

Your words were cut off as he firmly massages your clit and increases his pace, “sorry sweetheart, but if you’re able to talk i ain’t doing my job.”

You groan again and clench the bed sheets, he snickers, “that’s more like it.” He continued to thrust but waited till you were finally able to meet his eyes again before saying, “now cum.”

And you obeyed. Your walls slammed around his phalanges as you released and you screamed his name. His paced slowed to a stop and he gently withdrew his finger bones. He looked at them, tilted them and watched them glisten in the light, and laughed lightly, “looks like you got me soaked to the bone kid.”

You’re still coming off the high and just wave your hand weakly in his direction. He gets up and lightly kisses your forehead and leaves to clean up. He comes back a few moments later and settles into bed next to you.

You burrow under the covers, and he wraps his arms around you. His skull is nuzzled into your neck and he sighs contentedly. You stroke his skull and listen to his breathing slow as he drifts off to sleep. You kiss the top of his skull lightly, and he mumbles quietly, “i’ve waited so long for you to come back. please…stay…”


	15. Date With sans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader tries to leave Snowdin before they're fully recovered and they end up going on a date with sans!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Male Version of Smut
> 
> Ok so this is my first attempt at smut. It's still kinda tame I guess? lol I tried -.- if people think it's ok then cool maybe I'll try some more. If not then we can all just pretend this didn't happen eh heh heh.

It has been a few weeks now since you’ve been sleeping on the couch at the skelebro’s house. It hasn’t started feeling any less awkward, and you’re not sure how you’ll ever pay them back, but at least they don’t seem annoyed by your company. Your arm was healing up nicely, and your leg wasn’t doing too bad either. You could limp around a bit, and only needed to lean on something now and then to catch your breath.

Papyrus was out recalibrating his puzzles and sans was…well you had no idea where he was but you assume he was off napping somewhere. You decide to take this opportunity to head out. You didn’t want to overstay your welcome, and come on no one is great with goodbyes.

Especially when they felt so…final.

After tidying up the living room a bit you tip toe toward the door. Glancing back quickly towards sans’ bedroom you hold your breath and open the front door slowly. Ok. No response so far. You wince a little as the door creaks, and glance again. Still no response. Good. You hold your breath and sneak outside, gently closing the door after you.

“where ya going, buddy?”

You yelp in surprise turn around quickly, “sans! Um, hey! I didn’t know you were awake.” You laugh nervously.

He squints his eye sockets at you, and grins, “yeah i just got back from helping papyrus with some puzzles.”

“Oh, that’s uh great!” your voice is shaky, still embarrassed that you were caught. You shift uncomfortably.

He notices of course. His eyes flick all over you, “you didn’t answer my question. where ya going buddy?” He asked a bit more firmly.

“Um, you know…Waterfall?” You admit sheepishly.

sans’ eyes gaze at your bandaged leg, “that doesn’t look very healed.”

“Well no but I can walk pretty good.” you look down at the ground.

sans huffs and shoves his hands in his pockets, causing you to look up again, “nah that won’t do kid. we had a deal. you stay till you’re fully healed.”

“B-but that’ll take fore-“ 

He cuts you off, “but if you’re getting bored with the scenery, i wouldn’t mind taking you for a short visit to waterfall.” He gives you a wink.

You consider for a moment and weigh your options. You really can’t stay for another few weeks or a month, that’d be way too much to ask of them. Maybe if he took you through some of Waterfall you could have a chance to sneak away.

He interrupts your thoughts just as they come to mind, “i wouldn’t try sneakin’ away either.” He winked again, “i know a lot of short cuts.”

You sigh, knowing he was right, “Fine. I guess we can go.”

“great.” His grin seems wider, “let’s go.” He loops his arm through yours and you feel the odd sensation of being transported again.

 

He takes you to a smaller, hidden cavern within Waterfall. You aren’t quite sure where it’s located, or how far within Waterfall it is. You chew your lip. Running off on your own definitely wasn’t an option. The last thing you need is limping around lost in a dark maze.

The cavern is secluded, rocks glow from above, and a small stream trickles through. The water reflects the lights, and you watch it sparkle and dance as the liquid rushes on. You can see sans watching you reflected in the water. You glance up to see his face, and he looks away quickly, a light blush tinting his cheeks.

He’s been acting a little odd since you had woken up and agreed to recover at their home, but you had no idea why. He’s still avoiding your gaze, so you squat down near the stream and pick up a stick and swirl it in the water, trying to remember.

You do remember the nightmares, and shudder. Let’s skip that part and think a bit more. You woke up abruptly, and disoriented. You swirl a little whirlpool, and tap your fingers on your knee. What next? You saw him, and felt bad. You ran away. You swish the whirlpool away and try to start another one going the other direction. Ok what happened after that?

sans finally decided to sit down next to you, but stared quietly at the bubbling brook. You return to focusing on making your whirlpool. Think harder. It was cold. Well no duh you were back in Snowdin, so that doesn’t really help. You were hurt, and your limbs were burning despite the cold. You had fallen down and sans found you and then…

And then…

You drop the stick and didn’t even see it drift away in the water. You quickly moved your hands up to your face, hoping the coolness of your fingers would quell the fire that began to burn beneath your cheeks.

He kissed you on the forehead.

You kissed him.

You kissed sans!

Like, on the mouth!

Well, teeth, but still, it counted!

“hey.” he whispers, snapping you back to reality.

“Nuuyeeah?!” you jump and your blush reddens more. Silently thanking the cavern for it’s formerly spooky shadows, you clear your throat and try again, “Yeah?”

He still hasn’t looked at you, and you sigh quietly with relief. “have you had any more…dreams? like about undyne, snowdin, papyrus, or…me?”

A haunting cackling voice echoes in your mind, and you shiver. “No.” you whisper as an inexplicable wave of shame washes over you.

“oh.” he whispers back just as quietly.

You thread your fingers together, and chew the inside of your cheek. You wanted to talk to him about it, but it felt better to keep it to yourself. What if it wasn’t really just a nightmare? What if the terrible things you had seen were…real? You couldn’t remember them clearly, but some involved Papyrus and other monsters and they hadn’t been good. You close your eyes and exhale slowly, trying to calm your nerves. They weren’t real. They couldn’t be real.

“hey.” sans says again.

“Yes?”

sans is still gazing at the steam, “isn’t the water interesting? it just flows on forever, but,” he picks up a rock and chucks it in the water, watching it splash and ripple, “a simple action can disrupt the flow.” He grit his teeth and waved his hand, and a row of bones appeared and blocked the stream, “or end it completely.” He lets the water dam up on one side, and watches the levels change, then waves his hand again and the bones disappear. “then it just carries on before, like nothing happened.” He ground his teeth some more, “just waiting to be manipulated or altered again and not able to do anything to stop it.”

You try to catch his eye, but he just stares down at his hands lost in thought. You swallow and absentmindedly knead at the mud of the riverbed.

Then you had an idea. You stand up and start to dig. He doesn’t look at you or pay you any mind, and you complete your semi circle around him easily. The dirt was soft and loose. You also found a few small echo flower seedlings slightly buried in the earth. You carefully transfer them to either side of the little trench you’ve made around sans.

“what are you doing?” sans looks up at you, puzzled.

You ignore him for the moment.

Now for the last part. You dig out the small patches of dirt that divide the stream from your little trench, and the water flows out the stream, around sans, and returns to the body of water. You rinse your hands in the brook and smile at your handy work. The echo flower seedlings seem to perk up a bit at the drink.

sans just stares at you, glances around at the water rushing around him, and back at you. Utter confusion on his face.

You smile shyly at him, “You know, sometimes the river can be manipulated permanently.” you point at the seedlings, “And that can be a good thing. It changes the world for the better.” He gives you a funny look, and you plush and glance down at your feet. “Because, um, now the flowers will get enough water to grow…” Even though that’s why you did it, deep down inside you felt like you had wanted to convey something more to him.

You had no idea what that was, but it appeared to have worked. He exhaled a shaky breath, and it almost looked like there was a small tear in his eye socket. He stood up quickly, pulled you onto his island, and embraced you. He shivered against you, and you stroked his spine to comfort him.

He pulled away slightly, and pressed his teeth to your mouth. You gasp and step back, tripping over your trench and falling on your butt into the mud.

The lights in his eyes flashed with concern, and he started to reach out his hand to help you up, but let it hang between you, not sure if you’d take it. You stare at it awkwardly, waiting for the temperature of your face to go down.

He moves his hand to scratch the back of his skull and laughs nervously, “i-uh, i’m sorry, kid. i didn’t mean to-“

“Why do you call me kid?” you ask abruptly, catching him off guard.

“uh, what?”

You fold your arms in front of you, and puff out your chest, “By human years I’m not a kid. I’m a young adult.” You grin at him and stick out your tongue.

He laughs at you, and you reach out to him, silently requesting his assistance to help you up. As he does he says, “well i guess i’ll call you young adult then, young adult.”

You try to dust yourself off as best you can, but don’t make much progress. “Young adult sounds creepy when you say it. Go back to kid.”

He chuckles again, and your heart skips at the sound, “alright then, kid.” He coughs, “i really am sorry about that.” He gestures his hand between you, “i shouldn’t have-”

Before he could finish, you put your hands on both his cheekbones and pressed a kiss just above his nasal cavity, and you smile as he sucks in a breath.

“It’s ok.” you kiss underneath each eye socket, and revel as his breathing becomes unsteady. “Thanks for finding me that night.” You move your thumbs so you can peck each of his cheekbones, and he lets out a shaky sigh, “And always being there for me.” You kiss underneath either side of his jawbone, and he lets out a soft moan and pulls you closer. 

You open your mouth to say more, but he says, “can i just kiss you again, please? i’ve waited so long.” You’re not quite sure what he means by that, but you relent, and he presses another skele-kiss to your lips. You feel his phalanges dig into your back through your sweater as he pulls you closer. He moves down, pressing his special kisses along your jaw, and down your neck. He nibbles gently on your neck and shoulders, making you giggle.

It ended too soon as he pulls away, gazing at you thoughtfully. “you know, for a young adult, you’re pretty messy.” You punch him in the arm, “hey it’s not my fault you need a bath.”

You glare at him, “Yeah it is!”

He strokes your cheek, “yeah i guess you caught me red-handed.” and you roll your eyes and shove him again. He snickers at you, “c’mon let’s head back.”

In a wink you are both back in their house. Well, more specifically, in the bathroom at their house. sans leans against the door, smirking at you.

You cross your arms, “Ah-hem do you mind?”

“no not at all.” he winks.

You sigh, and throw a towel at him, “Get out!”

He snickers again, and as he leaves he says, “geez no need to be so amino about it.”

You shake your head, and carefully watch the door as you prep for the shower. Fortunately, sans is a good guy, uh skeleton, and wouldn’t be a total sleaze.

 

After your shower you feel warm and refreshed. You borrowed one of sans’ pairs of sweatpants and a jacket. The pants were a bit baggy, weird considering he wasn’t even skin and bone he was just bone, but you were able to tie them off with the drawstring. As you exit the bathroom, you see sans’ glance up from the couch and let out a low whistle.

“i like your style, kid.”

You roll your eyes as you limp down the stairs, “Well you should, since it’s yours.” and plop down next to him. You snuggle into his ribcage, and he wraps his arm around you.

As the robot hosted quiz show ends, and kicks up with a robot hosted cooking show, sans shifts a bit.

“What’s up?” you ask and gaze up at him.

“nothing.” he says, blushing slightly.

“What?” you sit up and raise and eyebrow.

He laughs shyly, “heh, i was just thinkin’ about you and…” he drifts off, but you’re not going to let him get away.

“And?” you ask with a smirk on your face and tickle his ribs.

He swats your hand away, “and it just feels good to cuddle with you and i’d like to…”

“Like to what?” You tickle his ribs again and giggle when he swats you away again.

His cheekbones redden and he glances away, “i’d like it if you uh cuddled with me tonight…”

Now your cheeks are red and you’re struggling to find the words to respond, “I, uh, I mean, um.”

He flicks a shy look at you, “you don’t have to.”

He was adorable. “No that sounds like fun, and to be honest the couch is great and all but my back is killing me lately.”

He laughs, “i thought you said you were a young adult.”

You shoot him a look, “Watch yourself buddy.”

He grinned again, “i think you do plenty of that for me.”

He snickers as you are once again at a loss for words, and clicks the remote to turn the T.V. off. He stands up and stretches, and offers you his hand. Once you grasp it you’re suddenly sitting on his bed and he stands grinning in front of you.

“You really like doing that don’t you?”

He sits down besides you, “well you know i’m a lazybones. why walk when i don’t have to?” He kicks off his slippers, settles into bed, and pats the spot next to him.

You settle down next to them and start to pull the covers over yourself, but sans grabs your wrist and stops you. He looks your body up and down, with an odd gleam in his eye.

“hey, kid.” he swallows with his nonexistent throat. “did i ever tell you how attractive you are?” he whispered.

You blush again, and try to answer but only manage a few choked out sounds.

He sighs softly, releases your wrist, and strokes your face, down your neck, to your collarbone, down to where the zipper ends on the jacket. You hadn’t zipped it up all the way, and the phalange of his pointer finger was resting on your sternum. You wonder if he can feel your heart pounding. He just watches you as your chest heaves up and down as your breathing becomes uneven.

He traces your exposed skin of your collarbones and neck, and smiles “You’re so soft, and warm.” He moans slightly as his finger bone dips just beneath the jacket and strokes above your your heart. He withdraws his hand and rests it at his side. The lights in his eyes gaze at yours, burning with a conflicted hunger.

You inhale a shaky breath, and tentatively lift a hand up to unzip the jacket. He watches as it slowly slides down and waits patiently as you open the jacket, exposing your torso. He inhales unevenly and looks at you again. His smile is eager, but his eyes are shy, like he’s waiting for you to reject him. 

You reach out your hand to his and place it on your chest, groaning softly as his phalanges and metacarpals squeeze lightly. He sucks in a breath and traces slow circles along your body. You sigh happily and he nuzzles close, and nibbles on your neck and shoulders as his hands run up and down your body. You massage the back of his skull, and trace his cheekbones lightly.

“you’re so warm.” he whispers again as you let out a soft moan. He pinches you lightly and you arch your back into him. He chuckles into your neck, and his hands stroke down your body and he massages your hips with his thumbs. You buck a little as it tickles and he chuckles again. He runs his fingers down your chest again, smiling as it tickles you and he feels the muscles of your body constrict in response. He reaches down to untie the drawstring and you tense. He freezes and looks up at you again, “i don’t have to-“

You lean up and press a kiss to his teeth and smile as his bones rattle. “It’s ok. I was just surprised.”

“ok. i’ll stop whenever you want me to ok? just promise to tell me if you’re uncomfortable.” He gazes at you with a concerned look in his eye sockets.

You giggle and kiss him above the nasal cavity and he shivers again, “I promise I will.”

Satisfied he resumed untying the drawstring and removing your pants. After he got them off your ankles he sat between your legs, and froze.

“Wh-what?” you ask nervously and start to pull away. 

His boney hands grip your thighs, and he whispers, “wait.” You stop. “i just want to admire you for a moment.” Your cheeks flush, but you can’t help but feel a little flattered with the way he’s looking at you. The lights in his eyes shine with affection for you as he scans your body. He leans up and presses a kiss to your lips. He continues to kiss you down your neck, across your chest, down to your navel, and nips you on the hip.

He looks up at you with a mischievous grin, and you lean up to ask him what he’s planning but suddenly you feel him stroking your member lightly. You gasp and jump a little and he chuckles. He wraps his right arm underneath your thigh and uses it to hold your hip down. He gazes at you as he strokes lightly up and down, watching as you twitch and it grows.

“you really are beautiful.” he says as he continues to tease you.

You try to come up with a snappy remark but end up sucking in a sharp breath as he taunts your member. He presses kisses to your inner thigh, slowly inching closer to your member, but stops short and chuckles quietly. “look how hard you’re getting. do you want more?”

“Yes.” you whisper.

“what was that?”

“Yes!” you moan.

He chuckles again, “alright don’t need to be so de-mandible.” He gently cups your balls, massaging them gently, and you choke back whatever retort you had. He hisses in a breath as you feel your member grow and pulse. He grasps your cock and strokes it slowly. 

“sans!” you moan. That’s all you can say, but he knows what you want. He strokes faster and lightly presses his thumb to the base of your head.

You try to buck your hips, but he holds you firmly in place. He stops stroking for a moment and looks at you thoughtfully. “do you care if i try something?”

You shake your head, just wanting him to do something, anything. He releases your cock and sits up for a moment. His eye sockets are empty, but then his left one flashes blue. With a crackle a blue light appears behind his teeth, and he lets his jaw drop open. A thick, long, and blue tongue escaped from between his teeth. Your heart was thudding in your ears as you watched it twist and coil in on itself. He leans forward and lets his tongue slide up your cock, and you sigh and collapse back on the pillow. He swirls his tongue-like appendage around your dick, and starts to move his head up and down. Your head starts to feel dizzy from the mixture of sensations.

“cum for me.” he whispers quietly, not sure how he can speak so clearly at the moment. Your body shudders, but you’re not ready to give in quite yet. He gazes at you from between your legs, tongue still spiraling around your dick, breathing heavily.

The primal hunger in his eyes is so sexy, “sans I-“

Your words were cut off as he increases his pace, “sorry sweetheart, but if you’re able to talk i ain’t doing my job.”

You groan again and clench the bed sheets, he snickers, “that’s more like it.” He continued to thrust but waited till you were finally able to meet his eyes again before saying, “now cum.”

And you obeyed. You screamed his name as you released. His paced slowed to a stop and he gently withdrew tongue. You swallowed as you watched his tongue swirl one last time, gathering your cum, and retreat between his jaws. His teeth closed with a clack “i’m glad you’re not cocky, kid.”

You’re still coming off the high and just wave your hand weakly in his direction. He gets up and lightly kisses your forehead and leaves to clean up. He comes back a few moments later and settles into bed next to you.

You burrow under the covers, and he wraps his arms around you. His skull is nuzzled into your neck and he sighs contentedly. You stroke his skull and listen to his breathing slow as he drifts off to sleep. You kiss the top of his skull lightly, and he mumbles quietly, “i’ve waited so long for you to come back. please…stay…”


	16. Ignorance is Bliss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara finally gives the reader back their memories...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this scenario is kind of what made me want to write in the first place haha :) it did end up being a little longer than I planned, but hope you enjoy!
> 
> Thank you so much for all the love and support everyone!! It really keeps me going :) I didn't plan for this to go so far but it's been a lot of fun. Who knows? Maybe when this one is done I'll try writing something else ^.^

A few days had passed since your day with sans, and all seemed well. After explaining everything to Papyrus of course. He had looked at you with squinty eye sockets when he saw you leaving sans’ room that morning.

You had blushed like mad and sans just stood by you laughing to himself as you stammered and stuttered your way through explaining that sans and you were a different type of friends and he shouldn’t be worried because he was still your BFF and sans had no intention of replacing him and you’d never forget about your friendship with Papyrus and-

“SO YOU TWO ARE DATING THEN.” Papyrus had said simply.

“I uh well um, yes I guess?” you had squeaked. Then nudged sans firmly in the ribs when he laughed louder.

“GOOD.” Papyrus had nodded his approval, “THOUGH I’M NOT QUITE SURE WHY YOU COULDN’T SAY THAT.” He patted you on your head, “BUT I GUESS AFTER BEING REJECTED BY THE GREAT PAPYRUS YOUR CONFIDENCE WOULD’VE BEEN SHAKEN. I DID SAY I’D HELP YOU SETTLE FOR SECOND BEST AFTER ALL AND SANS IS THE BEST I KNOW AFTER MYSELF!”

After that things pretty much resumed whatever sense of normality you could call couch surfing in a home owned by skeletons. Papyrus was off to play with his puzzles and sans valiantly volunteered to keep you company while you recovered, and by that he meant lounge on the couch with you and watch movies all day.

“want some popcorn?” sans asked with a yawn.

“Sure.” you smile at him and stretch out your legs. Your left had finally stopped feeling sore, but was definitely stiff.

You watched him shuffle to the kitchen, and flip through some channels to look for something new to watch.

“Hey Papyrus! Where the hell are you?!” Undyne yelled as she kicked open the door with a grin on her face.

Startled you let out a small cry and drop the remote.

Undyne turned toward you and you watched as the grin on her face slowly melted into a frown. Seconds ticked by painfully slow as she stared you down.

You open your mouth to say something, but sans beat you to it. “want some popcorn undyne?”

She ground her teeth together, “No I do not. What is the human doing here?”

“funny story. papyrus is a good friend. he took the kid in after you almost killed them and now they’re hangin’ out with us till they get better.”

She didn’t think that story was very funny. Her eyes gleamed with anger and she raised her hand and a spear materialized before her. Grasping it tightly she growled, “Papyrus that naive fool. You can’t be friends with a human!” She screamed in fury and leapt toward you, spear raised.

You feel a strange burning in your chest as you raise your hands up to cover your face and yelp with fear. You close your eyes, waiting for the end, and hold your breath. Only…it didn’t come. After a few moments, you steal a glance through your fingers and you stare right into Undyne’s confused eyes.

She scowls at you, and tries to turn her head towards sans but she can’t move. “Sans! What the hell is this?! Let me go!”

You flick your eyes to sans and he’s just staring at you, mouth agape, popcorn dropped and forgotten on the floor.

“i didn’t do that.” he whispers.

Undyne struggles again and lets out a stream of curses. She’s suspended in the air, completely restricted by numerous bones, and her spear has been knocked from her hands. You flick your eyes back and forth between an angry Undyne, and very tense sans.

The burning in your chest is still there, and it dawns on you. You did it. You look down at your hands, and then quickly push them down. The bones around Undyne disappear and she falls to the ground. Luckily, she was able to catch herself before smacking her chin on the table.

Now they both stare at you. Undyne with a suspicious hatred, and sans with a cold, hollow gaze. You groan and press your palm to your forehead. You screwed up. You have to fix this. You have to redo. Pretend it didn’t happen.

An odd feeling tingles at your fingertips. You reach out into the air, and sans gasps. You ignore him and focus on the sensation. Your fingers wrap around something invisible in the air.

“kid, wait!”

You follow your instinct numbly and grasp the air tightly.

“hold it!” sans tries to make his way toward you.

You give a small counterclockwise twist to the air, and suddenly your vision blurs and you feel your eyes spin. Everything seems to be happening backwards in front of you. You watch Undyne return to the air and then launch backwards to the doorway and the spear disappears. The doorway repairs itself as she retreats. sans shuffles backwards to the couch and settles next to your side. You gasp and release the air.

“want some popcorn?” sans asks with a yawn.

“S-sure?” you mumble weakly, eyes still feeling like they’re spinning in your head. What just happened?

He gets up and heads toward the kitchen again, but pauses a few steps from you.

“hold on…” he hesitates and turns slowly toward you. Your heart is thumping in your ears. He walks towards you again, and grabs the front of your shirt firmly. Your vision blacks out for a moment and you’re abruptly transported to his room.

“sa-“

Your body is slammed against the wall and you’re unable to move. You try to look sans in the eye but his sockets are blackened pits. He gestures his hand down and you’re slammed to the ground on your hands and knees. You try to look up at him, but it feels like a boot is standing on the back of your head, forcing you to look at the ground.

“you mind telling me who the hell you are?” he snarled.

“I-I don’t understand.”

The pressure increases and you collapse on the floor. “bullshit.” He snaps and slams your torso to the wall again, forcing you to sit up and look him face to skull.

His right socket is an empty abyss of loss and despair, and his left is burning blue and gold with hatred and malice. He grinds the teeth of his forever-smile turned into a grimace and with another wave of his hand you see a skull shaped cannon appear in front of your nose.

Gasterblaster.

The name whispers across your mind and sends a shiver down your spine. Two more appear on either side of your head.

“alright, kid,” he spits out your nickname like it’s the foulest thing he’s ever tasted, “you’ve got five seconds to explain to me what the hell you just did.” He leans against the wall across from you, arms folded, waiting.

“I really have no idea-“

He uncrosses his arms and clenches and unclenches his fists, before slamming his right hand against the wall angrily. He gazes at his hand, and glares at you through the side of his burning eye, “what sick game are you playing this time?”

He brings up his left hand to his sternum, and claws at his jacket. His voice is a mixture of agony and hate, “my kid has never done that.” He gestures toward the bedroom door, and looks at you again, his face strained. “what game are you playing this time, chara?” he whispers quietly.

Chara?

Who’s Chara?

You swallow the constriction in your throat, and say “I uh I didn’t mean to. I’m not sure how I did, but I didn’t mean to…” The Gasterblaster in front of your face inched closer, and the words die in your mouth.

He let out a sigh, “do it again then.”

A memory flashes behind your mind, and sadness fills your heart. “I can’t.” you cry.

“why not? you used my magic. do it again.” his voice devoid of emotion.

Tears well up in your eyes as you think of stories your grandma told you on the surface so very long ago, “I didn’t even know it was possible, but now I know I can’t do it again.”

“why not?” he snapped again, and the cannons inched closer.

“Because you hate me!” you sob and tears flow down your cheeks. Confusion and hurt flickers across his face for a brief moment.

“explain.”

You laugh without feeling and say, “Ok, but at least promise me that if you’re gonna shoot me it’s not because of this.”

He lets out another exasperated sigh, “fine.”

The tears continue to flow down your cheeks, and you don’t bother to wipe them away. You pull your legs up to your body, and wrap your arms around them, resting your chin on your knees. You stare at the middle of the floor as you whisper, “My grandma used to tell me stories from a long time ago, before the war.” You inhale a shaky breath, keenly aware of the silence in the room, “She told me about how my family used to be friends with monsters and,” you choke back a sob, “and well some of them…became very good…friends.” You quickly glance toward the bed, knowing his gaze follows yours, “Sometimes, when monsters and humans were really…uh…good….friends they um were able to…resonate souls and borrow the monster’s magic if the need was great.” You blush through the tears and pressed your face into your knees.

You mumble into your knees, “and now you hate me so I couldn’t do it even if I wanted to.” Your body shakes as you sob again.

Why did he hate you now?

You stole a glance up at him, and his face was blank. It was weird, what you did, but why did he hate you?

The Gasterblasters faded away and he held his head in his hands, muttering to himself. You could only hear bits and pieces, “don’t understand…hasn’t happened…don’t get it…what do i do…” He sinks to his knees on the floor.

You slowly stand up, wanting to move forward and comfort him, wanting to tell him how you felt, but once you took a step toward him a chilling cackle filled your mind.

_You really wanna know why he hates you? Why he’s so quick to distrust you?_

You freeze where you stand and your heart stops. The voice cackles again.

_Alright, you idiot. I suppose I’ve reaped all the fun I can get out of letting you running around like an ignorant fool. I’ll give you back your memories._

The dam burst and it hit you like a freight train. You fall to your hands and knees once more, cold sweat slick on your skin, gasping for air and trying not to drown under the memories that swirled and churned within your mind.

A flash. You see someone that you know is you but you don’t recognize yourself. You have a wicked grin on your face as you stand over the remains of your friends. You laugh maniacally as you kick up the dust and watch it blow away in the wind.

Another flash. You see yourself picking up Papyrus’ scarf and strolling over to a horrified sans kneeling in the snow. You tie it in a knot around his neck, and stick your dagger between his ribs. You relish in watching him shudder as you taunt in with the death of his brother. You laugh with glee as he teleports away. Him fearing you felt so great!

Another flash. You see yourself tackling Toriel from behind and slicing her throat before she offers to let you out of the ruins if you can prove your strength. You growl in displeasure as the dust of her remains dirties your sweater.

Another flash. You see yourself attempting to throw a kid off a bridge before Undyne stops you. Angered at her interruption you steal one of her spears and run her through.

Flash. You stroll down the snowy path, twirling the dagger in your hands until you face a small bridge, enjoying the stupid, hopeful gaze of a skeleton that offers you his hand and friendship. You’ll punish his foolishness by murdering his brother again and again. Flash. You crush Papyrus’ skull under your heel, and smirk at sans as he watches in horror from a distance. After the first time he stayed far away from you and teleported as quickly as he could. Flash. You snap off Papyrus’ ribs and giggle maliciously as he screams.

Yet another flash. You see yourself in a golden corridor, wide insane grin on your face, as sans stands across from you. You kiss your dagger for good luck and lunge at him.

“Stop it! Stop!” You scream and clutch your sides as your body dry heaves.

_You coward. Can’t face your sins?_

Flash. You see yourself in the corridor again. sans blasts you away with his cannon and the world goes black. Another flash and you’re back again. This time he snaps your spine with a solid whack of a bone. Again and again you come back to this room. Again and again he ends your life. You see his hope slowly melt away from his face each time you return.

Flash. You’re hiding in the foliage and hear Papyrus talking to Undyne. You leap at the cliffside and pull yourself up to take them both on. Your movements are disjointed and uneven, but you overpower them quickly and the monster kid runs in horror as his hero fades away on the wind.

Flash again. This time you decide to befriend everyone but murder Papyrus. sans must be punished for killing you so many times. You chuckle to yourself as he looks at you bitterly, “dirty brother killer.” he says under his breath.

Your body shudders again, and you reach for the trash bin. This time when your body heaves the contents of your stomach are expelled. You groan, horrific images still playing behind your eyes, but you are able to weakly turn your body towards sans.

He’s still kneeling on the ground, watching you with empty eye sockets. Face completely blank, void of any emotion. “so you remember now, huh?” he whispers.

You only respond with another groan as your body shudders again. Acid burned the back of your throat as you spat into the bin, and bitterness coated your tongue. Head still hanging over the bin you mutter, “I can’t take it. How many times did I-“ You can’t bring yourself to finish the question.

He chuckles harshly, “honestly kid? i lost count a long time ago after it started getting into the triple digits.” You hear his bones rattle as he shutters, “it may have even started getting close to quadruple.”

“Oh god.” You push yourself away from the bin and clutch your head in your hands. “I’m-I’m-“ You start to cry again, “I’m such a horrible being. I shouldn’t exist.”

He sighed, “yeah i’ve thought that a few times too.” The lights in his eyes start to glow in weak little pinpricks.

“How can you not hate me immediately every time?”

He just shrugs, “oh i do hate versions of you. lots of them actually. but it’s because you’re not always like that.” He clears his nonexistent throat and suddenly seems shy, “there’s other versions, versions that are the real you, that i’ve fallen in lo-“ he stops abruptly and scratches the back of his head, “i dunno i guess i’m just a bonehead.”

You just stare at him silently, trying to fight the wave of vertigo as memories continued to flood your mind.

“why did you have to do this now kid? i was so ready to let go of hope and now-“ he waves his hand at the door again, “now you do this?” his smile seems slightly more pure, “not gonna lie but it was nice to be surprised again.”

You finally find the words to ask, “How can you keep doing it over and over again?” You blink and see the pure agony on his face as you turn his brother to dust once again behind your eyelids, and you shiver.

He laughs weakly, “cuz i’m a bonehead kid. i dunno what else to tell ya.”

“Has uh, has Asgore or Undyne or any other monsters ever succeeded in taking my soul?”

He squints his eye sockets at you suspiciously, “no. why such a strange question?”

Your eyes dart to the floor, not wanting to meet his gaze. “Just wondering…” you mumble.

He moves closer to you and kneels in front of you, drawing your chin up to meet his eye sockets. “what are you planning kid?”

You didn’t think you had any left in you, but tears begin to spill down your cheeks. “I’m not strong enough sans. I can’t do this again. What if the world resets and I go back to-back to-“ your throat feels dry and you swallow hard, “I don’t want to come back. I want this to be over. Maybe if my soul is taken and used to free everyone from the Underground it’ll end…”

“no.” he says firmly.

“But sans-“

“no.” he says again, teeth clicking together tightly. “we can find a way to fix this kid. i know we can.” He gazes at you. His eye sockets are so full of emotions that you’re at a loss for words. There’s hate. Fear. Pity. Anguish. Love? “don’t you remember anything good?”

You shake your head slowly, and he sighs, stroking his boney thumb across your cheek. He stares at you thoughtfully for a moment, and then he whispers, "it's been so long since you've been like this, since you came back." He chuckles softly, "that joy buzzer though, that one was new." He sighed and shook his head, "will you let me help you remember?”

You try to think of a way to answer, but are interrupted as he presses a kiss to your lips. You gasp and pull back as memories flicker in your mind, and he caresses the back of your head and pulls you in for another kiss.

You see yourself laughing and eating spaghetti with sans and Papyrus.

You stay the night at Undyne’s and teach her how to make tacos.

You’ve convinced Alphys to come to the skelebro’s house and stay up late watching anime.

You have a dance off with Mettaton and laugh and clap along as the crowd cheers you on.

Toriel is teaching you how to bake a pie.

Asgore invites you to his castle for a cup of tea.

A temmie eagerly shows you it’s hard boiled egg and tells you how patiently it’s been waiting for it to hatch.

And sans. So much of it is sans.

Sometimes you don’t actually end up with sans.

You see him to the side, a patient smile, as he watches you fall for his brother. He laughs and teases you and accepts the role as the protective brother. He hides his pained look when he sees you two kiss.

Sometimes, though, you do end up with sans.

You see his eyes gleam with love as he takes you to the wishing room and shares his dreams with you. You kiss the top of his skull and promise him that one day you’ll take him to the surface.

At Grillby’s, sans was a bit down, and you kick on the jukebox and sing along (quite terribly) until he laughs.

Toriel makes you a pie and you roll your eyes as sans and Toriel trade bad jokes back and forth. He kisses your forehead and apologizes for forgetting to introduce you as his spleen-did partner.

In Hotland, you both try to see how many hotdogs you can balance on your head. As they pile higher and higher he snickers and accidentally says he loves you and you stumble, causing them all to fall. You both stare at each other, wordlessly, until you wrap your arms around him and tell him you love him too.

More memories are awakening within your mind, but you push him away. “sans I can’t” you whimper.

“kid-“ You press a finger to his teeth, quieting him.

“I love you sans.” You whisper softly, “Do you love me?”

Your finger is still on his teeth, so he just nods.

You felt your hands tingle in a strange, yet familiar sensation, and your heart beats a little faster.

“Can you make me a promise?”

He winces, knowing that you both know he hates to do that, but he nods again. His eye sockets blaze with worry.

You close your eyes and inhale a deep breath, after a moment you’re ready. You gaze into his eye sockets and say, “I’m sorry sans but I can’t just carry on like everything is normal and fine. Not with what I did in my mind.” He parts his teeth to speak, but you stop him, “And I know those were different versions of myself and different timelines. You can even blame some of that behavior on Chara, but it was still me.” You clear your throat softly, “I don’t even know if Chara could come back and make me do terrible things again, or if it’ll all just be reset and I’ll start over.”

You stroke his cheekbones and smile sadly, “I know you won’t let me give my soul to Asgore to try to end the resetting so I’m asking you this. Will you help me reset one last time? I think if you help me you can erase all my memories-“ your voice quivered, “the good and bad. Please. Help me reset, and then we’ll see what kind of person I really am.”

“but-“ you shush him again.

“If I come back like this then we’ll find a way to end the resets for good. If I come back like…like uh the other times then I want you to take my soul and stop my timelines from coming back.” He sucks in a breath sharply but you continue, “Promise me that if I do something horrible you’ll take my soul and not let me come back again.”

“i can’t-“ he starts to say but you shake your head.

“Sorry that’s not an option. If you can’t then I’ll turn myself into Undyne. Hopefully I won’t come back if Asgore uses my soul to reach the surface.”

His teeth click together a few times as he struggles to find the words, and you smile at him. “I hate to ask this of you. I really do.” You kiss the bone between his eye sockets and he shivers, “Please? I don’t want to keep coming back and not knowing if I’ll kill my friends, but I want to know that there’ll be a way to end it if I do.”

He groaned miserably, “fine kid, if that’s what you want.”

You kiss him again. “Thank you.” you whisper against his teeth.

You grab his hand and place it on your forehead. You feel the strand of power flow between you and sans, getting stronger with each passing wave. You ignore his shaking hand and the tears that cause his bones to feel slick against your skin. His breathing is unsteady, and yours isn’t doing so well either. You grip his radius to brace yourself.

The power grows between you, and concentrates on his palm. You feel it building, and know the moment is about to come.

“I love you sans.” you whisper.

“i love you too.” he chokes back.

Then the world went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what do you think :3 should I end it here or continue?


	17. Neutral Ending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My version of a neutral ending. If you must know though I wrote it as if the player went through the game in an imperfect pacifist route :) This chapter is written from sans' perspective. The reader character's memories of all previous timelines have been erased.
> 
> In this one I named it Neutral because they aren't immediately in love. The reader has lost all memories and their relationship is starting over. Just like in the game when you play through the first time (imperfect pacifist) you have the chance to achieve the pacifist ending. In this ending they are starting over, but have the potential to fall in love :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty so I have decided I am going to write multiple endings for this story since there are multiple endings in the game. I have rough ideas for what I want to do for Genocide and Pacifist but felt like writing Neutral first :) 
> 
> Why Neutral first you ask? Because I'm a big tease XD y'all are gonna have to wait for your super fluff. And I felt like trying to write in sans' pov again.

It’s been too long.

You pace back and forth, barely hearing the crunch of snow underfoot. 

It’s been a week. They’ve never taken this long to come back.

Absentmindedly you bring your hands up to your mouth and warm them with your breath. You didn’t really feel the cold, but it was something you always watched the human do.

Suddenly, a door creaks open and you inhale a sharp breath and teleport to the trees.

You were eager to see them, but…

Also afraid.

You silently watch from the trees as they emerge from the ruins, shy and shivering. Their eyes dart around widely as they tentatively make their way down the path. Your chest thrums wildly but you try to remain calm. You don’t want to get your hopes up quite yet.

They just passed the tree branch strewn across the path. Ok. First test. You’re having a hard time breathing as you approach the stick and stomp down, snapping it in half. You teleport back to the shadows as the human whirls around flailing their arms attempting to karate chop the air. They must’ve spun too fast because they slipped and fell on their butt in the snow.

You chuckle, that’s a good sign. Your clumsy ninja was here. 

They finally reached the bridge and you rubbed your hands together and used your magic to stop them. They seemed confused and slightly panicked but not angry.

That was good.

Your chest is thrumming much more rapidly as you make your way toward them. You don’t want to teleport this time, you want to take as much time as possible. You were ready, but also not so ready to see them again.

Reaching their back you brace yourself and say the line you’ve said countless times before, “human. don’t you know how to greet a new pal?”

The human gasps a sharp breath in surprise, but you won’t let them turn around quite yet.

You inhale slowly, and slowly release your hold on your magic, “turn around and shake my hand.” As they turn you take a chance to quickly glance down at their hands to make sure there were no joy buzzers.

The human grasps your hand and the melody of artificial flatulence echoes throughout the air. Once the sounds subside you can’t help but start to laugh, “heheh…the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. it’s always-“

“Holy crap you’re a skeleton!” The human interrupts and snatches their hand back, eyes wide.

“uh well yeah i-“

The human massaged their temples with their fingers and mumbled to themselves, “I’m insane…but not quite sure if I’m dead…this is crazy.” They closed their eyes, clapped their hands together, and inhaled slowly. After a moment they opened their eyes and looked straight at you, “You know what? No. Not doing this.” They shake their head, “Nope nope nopeity nope.”

They turn and quickly march off across the bridge muttering, “I’m getting outta here.”

“wait kid!” you reach out to stop them.

“Nope!” they shout and start running.

Well.

That was new.

Numbly you peel off the whoopee cushion taped to your palm and shove it in your pocket. It’s been a while since you’ve treaded new territory, and you really had no idea what to do. You click your teeth a few times thoughtfully.

May as well keep an eye on the kid for a bit. See what happens. It was actually exciting to experience something new.

Although you’d be lying if a new timeline didn’t scare you.

Well. You better get going.

You teleport through the trees, searching for the kid. You find them sitting in the snow, bug-eyed and surrounded by three Snowdrakes.

“Watch where you’re going!” one said, “Talk about snow manners!”

“Yeah, that wasn’t very ice of you!”

“Chill guys! The creature looks lost.” the third said, and glanced down at the human concerned, and reached out a wing to help them up.

The human brushed off some snow, and still seemed pretty nervous and guarded. Should you intervene? No. Not yet. If you stepped in to early when they’re still panicked you could tip them over the wrong edge. You have to wait till they make the choice to harm someone.

The human chuckled nervously, and warmed their hands with their breath. Shyly they mumbled, “Sorry I guess I was in such a flurry I forgot to freeze.”

…

….

The Snowdrakes stare at the human, blinking slowly. The human shifts a bit, looking uncomfortable and not quite sure what to do next. Then, all three Snowdrakes throw back their heads and laugh.

“Hey this kid’s pretty cool!”

“Yeah they’re not snow bad!”

“They’re a real winter.”

The laughing dies down with the last joke, and the poor Snowdrake looks embarrassed. Then the human giggles, “It was ice to meet all of you.” The kid smiles and waves goodbye as they continue on.

You let out a sigh of relief. They seem to be a bit more comfortable as they encounter lesser dogs, and Greater Dog. When they reach Papyrus, they’re laughing and smiling, and eagerly listening to him explain his puzzles. You step out of the shadows as they come to the electric puzzle, but they haven’t looked at you yet. As they make their way through, following Papyrus’ footprints, and hand back the orb to him with a triumphant grin, you clear their throat (heh heh) as Papyrus runs off.

The kid stiffens and looks at you anxiously.

“nice job kid. he’s having a lot of fun.”

The kid looks down at their feet and chuckles shyly, “Um, yeah I guess he is. I gotta go now.”

You sigh as you watch their retreating back. Don’t let it get under your skin.

They don’t remember you.

You decide to wait until they face Papyrus. You shudder, remembering a few timelines ago. Dirty brother killer.

You keep to the shadows as Papyrus goes through his speech and starts the battle. The kid starts off pretty well hopping over the bones, but when he uses his blue attack they were starting to have a bad time. This time around Papyrus also used some attacks from above and knocked the kid in the back of the head.

The kid blinks, looking a little dazed, and Papyrus catches them before they fall. You watch as he carries them to the garage and leaves them inside. A few moments later the kid peeks around the door and sneaks out.

This time around the kid was able to make some flirty remarks. You grit your teeth. Another bone swings from behind and whacks the kid solidly in the back of the head. They fall in a heap into the snow and you wince. Papyrus quickly runs over to them and scoops them up, apologizing over and over and promising to fill up their food bowl so they won’t want to leave again. Their limbs flop around as he brings them back to the garage. Poor kid was knocked out cold. 

You doze off a bit after waiting a few hours for the kid to wake up again. You jump when you hear the door creak open, and see the kid emerge. They were rubbing the back of their head and frowning towards the direction of the clearing where Papyrus waited. Please don’t give into your frustration kid. I want to believe in you.

The kid seemed to think for a moment and then marched off toward Snowdin. Huh, well that was new. You wanted to follow, but you still wanted to keep an eye on Papyrus. Besides, the human had gotten along well with all the townsfolk, you were sure they’d be fine.

Shortly after that the human came back with a cheeky grin on their face and their hands behind their back. Before Papyrus can finish his speech the kid reveals what they have. It’s some kind of slim box.

“Hey Papyrus, can you teach me how to make spaghetti?” the human asks.

“YOU WANT ME TO TEACH YOU? I MEAN OF COURSE I CAN! I THE GREAT PAPYRUS AM A MASTER CHEF!” Papyrus exclaims.

The human giggles and Papyrus strolls over to them and grasps their hand, leading them to our house. “AND AFTER THAT WE CAN GO ON OUR DATE!”

“Oh…heh heh yeah.” the human blushed.

You grit your teeth again.

You wait a few moments before going inside as well. They were already in the kitchen. You couldn’t hear much of what the human was saying over Papyrus’ chatter and pots and pans clanking. You flip on the T.V. and try to ignore them for now.

“OH SANS YOU’RE HOME! THE HUMAN AND I HAVE MADE DINNER.” Papyrus sets spaghetti on the table and the human seems shy and quiet again. Papyrus turns to the human, “NOW LET’S GO HAVE OUR DATE.”

“Oh that’s ok I should probably-“

“COME WITH ME HUMAN!” He grabs their hand and practically drags them up the stairs and the door slams.

You sigh heavily and flip through some channels, struggling between trying to eavesdrop and trying to not care about what’s going on. Not soon enough the human exits his room laughing and smiling, and gives him a peck on the cheekbone as they leave and he blushes. They seem so happy as they walk down the stairs, but once their eyes set upon you their smile falters and they quickly shift their gaze.

“Thanks for having me. I’ll be going now.” The human mumbles and quickly heads out the door.

Why?

Papyrus settles onto the couch next to you, still slightly blushing.

“how’d the date go?” you try to sound nonchalant, hiding the hurt in your voice.

Papyrus shrugged, “THE HUMAN WAS VERY NICE BUT I JUST COULDN’T FEEL LOVE FOR THEM AS MUCH AS THEY DID FOR ME. WE AGREED THE FRIENDZONE WAS SUITABLE FOR BOTH OF US.” He thumps his fist to his sternum, “AND I WILL BE A VERY GOOD FRIEND AND HELP THEM SETTLE FOR SECOND BEST! SINCE THEY CANNOT HAVE THE GREAT PAPYRUS!”

You sigh with relief. Your brother is pretty cool, but whenever the timelines lead to human and him together it was hard to not feel a little jealous.

“WHAT WAS THAT BROTHER?”

“nothin’ i gotta head out to my post. or undyne will be real temporal-mental.” 

Papyrus groaned and waved you away, “JUST GO.”

You smirk and inhale slowly as the room around you fades. When you exhale you find yourself behind your sentry station at the entrance to Waterfall. You glance to your right and see the human happily humming a tune as they stroll up the path. Your chest starts to thrum again.

As they get closer you stand up, “hey kid i uh have a break coming up. wanna grab a bite to eat?”

The human tenses and shakes their head quickly, “No that’s ok.”

You gaze at their back yet again, and groan.

Why me?

You decide to skip ahead and wait at the MTT resort until the kid showed up. A few days passed and Papyrus called, sounding very excited.   
“SANS! GUESS WHAT?!”

“what?”

“I WAS ABLE TO HELP THE HUMAN MAKE FRIENDS WITH UNDYNE! NOW MY FRIENDS ARE FRIENDS WITH EACH OTHER!”

“that’s great bro.”

“IT DOES NOT SOUND LIKE YOU THINK THAT IS GREAT. WHERE ARE YOU?”

“sorry just bone tired from working.”

“UGH WELL AT LEAST YOU ARE OK. NOW ABOUT-“

You see the human in the distance and cut Papyrus off, “sorry bro i gotta go.” Click.

As the human comes closer they stiffen and try to avoid meeting your eye sockets. You chuckle nervously and try to not sound too eager, “h-hey kid. you’re going to the core right? wanna grab dinner with me first?”

The human looked at you, face neutral, “No, thank you. I still have a long ways to go.”

“heh…heh…right” You leaned up against the wall not wanting to watch the human leave this time. It was getting more difficult not letting this get under your skin. You sigh and rub the back of your skull with your hand, and decide it’d be best to wait until they reached the golden corridor.

You teleport once more and settle down next to a pillar. Eventually your phone buzzes and you see an update on Undernet.

ALPHYS updated status.  
*Anime night with my new friend!

There’s a picture of the human slurping instant noodles.

You throw your phone across the corridor.

Why is it only me?

You stand up and pace back and forth across the floor. Why? What did you do this time? Why was it so different? Why was the kid avoiding you like this?

You hear steps clack on the tile and a small squeak of surprise. You turn and see the kid staring at you with a confused expression.

“hey kid.” you chuckle halfheartedly, “i uh wanted to ask you something. before you face asgore.”

“Ok.” the kid says simply.

You look off to the side, not wanting to see their face when they respond. “why do you keep avoiding me? i-i don’t mean tibia jealous or anything,” except you totally were, “but i just wanted to know if it was something i did or said.”

The human is quiet for a while. You finally get the nerve to look them in the eyes and their cheeks are bright pink. You open your mouth to apologize but the human lifts up their hand in a gesture to stop you. You wait. After a moment the human mumbles quietly, “To pa-tell-a you the truth I was kind of…embarrassed about how I acted to you before.” Their face turned redder, “I’m not always good at first impressions and I, um…” Now they’re bright red, and the human is staring down at their feet, “I uh, think you’re um cute…”

“you think i’m…cute?” you whisper and the human nods. Your chest thrums rapidly and you try to calmly walk to the human. You stop a few feet away from them, “you better not be telling me a fib-ula.” you grin as they look up at you and giggle.

“I’m not.” The human lifts up their pinky to you, “Pinky swear.”

You loop your boney finger around theirs and say, “good. i think you’re cute too.” Their cheeks turn an adorable shade of pink again and you use your linked pinkies to pull them toward you and press a skelekiss to their forehead.


	18. Genocide Ending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Genocide inspired ending. Reader only remembers past genocide timelines. And just to make sure people aren't confused each of my endings are inspired by the themes of the various possible endings of Undertale and that affects their relationship. Genocide...obviously...means their relationship did not end well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is written from sans' P.O.V.
> 
> Oh and I did slightly reuse the intro to the Neutral Ending chapter haha :)

It’s been too long.

You pace back and forth, barely hearing the crunch of snow underfoot.

It’s been a week.

They’ve never taken this long to come back.

Absentmindedly you bring your hands up to your mouth and warm them with your breath. You didn’t really feel the cold, but it was something you always watched the human do.

Suddenly, a door creaks open and you inhale a sharp breath and teleport to the trees.

You were eager to see them, but…

Also afraid.

You silently watch from the trees as they emerge from the ruins, shy and shivering. Their eyes dart around widely as they tentatively make their way down the path. Your chest thrums wildly but you try to remain calm. You don’t want to get your hopes up quite yet.

They just passed the tree branch strewn across the path. Ok. First test. You’re having a hard time breathing as you approach the stick and stomp down, snapping it in half. You teleport back to the shadows as the human whirls around flailing their arms wildly in surprise.

You smile.

They finally reached the bridge and you rubbed your hands together and used your magic to stop them. They seemed confused and tense but not angry.

That was good.

Your chest is thrumming much more rapidly as you make your way toward them. You don’t want to teleport this time, you want to take as much time as possible. You were ready, but also not so ready to see them again.

Reaching their back you brace yourself and say the line you’ve said countless times before, “human. don’t you know how to greet a new pal?”

The human gasps a sharp breath, but you won’t let them turn around quite yet.

You inhale slowly, and slowly release your hold on your magic, “turn around and shake my hand.” As they turn you take a chance to quickly glance down at their hands to make sure there were no joy buzzers.

The human grasps your hand and the melody of artificial flatulence echoes throughout the air. Once the sounds subside you can’t help but start to laugh, “heheh…the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. it’s always funny.“

The human giggles and you feel more at ease. “That was a good one. Freaked me out and fart noises. Perfect prank.”

You winked, “it’s ice to meet ya kid. my name’s sans. normally i patrol the forest lookin’ for humans but i don’t feel like working today.”

The human seemed oddly ok with all of this and nodded politely. Well, maybe this version was just a bit braver than others. They didn’t always have a panic attack every time they emerged from the ruins.

Still, you felt slightly unsettled. You kept a careful eye socket on them as they went through Papyrus’ puzzles, laughing gleefully and seeming to have a lot of fun. You clenched your fists whenever they stepped close to your brother.

After they made it passed the Gauntlet of Deadly Terror you casually strolled up to them, “nice one kid. you’ll be facing my brother soon.” you watched them carefully, “make sure you understand blue attacks.”

They swallowed a bit nervously at the mention of fighting Papyrus. Maybe you were being a bit too suspicious. They cleared their throat, “Do-do I really have to fight him?” their eyes were wide.

“yeah, but i’m sure you’ll be fine. he’s not dangerous, even when he tries to be.” you try to comfort the kid with a smile.

They chuckle halfheartedly and wave goodbye, walking stiffly through Snowdin.

You squint your eye sockets. There’s nothing wrong with being overly cautious. You pull out your cell and dial Papyrus.

“YES? WHAT IS IT BROTHER?”

“hey bro do you think you could just let the human by?”

“WHAT?! HOW COULD YOU SUGGEST SUCH A THING! IT IS MY SWORN DUTY THAT I SWORE TO MYSELF THAT I WOULD CAPTURE ANY HUMAN THAT CAME BY.”

“i know bro i just think it’d be better if you didn’t fight them.”

Papyrus sighed, “BROTHER THIS IS MY CHANCE TO PROVE TO UNDYNE I DESERVE TO BE A PART OF THE ROYAL GUARD! SHE’LL NEVER LET ME IN IF I’M JUST A LAZYBONES AND LET A HUMAN ESCAPE.”

You groan, “alright fine how about letting me face the human this time-“

“SORRY BROTHER I MUST GO THE HUMAN HAS ARRIVED!” Papyrus chatters excitedly and hangs up.

You had a really bad feeling in your bones.

You teleport yourself to the field of snow and the thrumming in your chest stops. The human is smiling wickedly at Papyrus with a blade clenched in their fist. You watched as their body fluidly dodged his attacks and the glint of metal snaked towards his jaw.

“no!” you shout, as the blade hooks underneath Papyrus’ jawbone. The kid drives the blade up further, and then swings their arm in a wide arch, dislodging his skull from his body. His skull tumbles to the ground a few feet in front of you, and his body falls in a heap. Papyrus sees you and smiles weakly.

“pa-papyrus.” your voice cracks. The kid sets their eyes on you and smirks, bringing up a foot to slam down on Papyrus’ sternum and shatters his ribcage. His bones collapse in on themselves and fade into dust. The human scowls at their shoe and wipes dust off with Papyrus’ cape.

“IT’S…OK…BROTHER…” you look down at Papyrus knowing you can’t hide your anguish from your face. He tries to smile but chokes in pain, “I…STILL…HAVE…MY…HEAD…” The lights in his eyes start to fade, and the human approaches him, red eyes staring deep into your eye sockets.

You’re frozen where you stand as you watch the human stop just before what remains of your brother, “Oh Papyrus, you fool. It’s not nice to lie.” You can’t look away as the heel of their boot crushes his skull.

The human giggles maniacally and gazes at you, head tilted to the side, “You’re not really much of a brother are you.” They shrug, “You just let him die.”

“you…you…” your mind is in such a turmoil of agony and rage you can’t find the words. The human crosses their arms and waits patiently, eyes gleaming red. You chuckle sharply and feel your magic build up inside you, “you should really be burning in hell.”

Bones fly and the human dips and dodges effortlessly and laughs mockingly at you. “Oh come on sans! Aren’t you even sad?”

You growl and summon GasterBlasters and fire. The human is still grinning as they duck under the beams, and use Papyrus’ chest plate to deflect one, destroying a tree. “You know you really are quite rude.” The human dives to the side and a smoldering hole appears where they just were. “You didn’t even ask my name.”

“i don’t give a damn what your name is.” You feel your vision blur as tears stream down your cheekbones and furiously wipe them away as you prepare another attack.

The human’s eyes glow again, “I suppose that’s fair. You already know what it is.”

“shut up!” you scream and send a storm of bones and cannon blasts toward the human. No. It’s clear this isn’t a human.

Chara.

Chara’s smug look falters temporarily as bones catch them at the ankles and you use your magic to teleport and tackle them to the ground. Chara snarls and whips their head wildly. You dig your boney fingers into their arms, pinning them on their back. You clench their wrists tightly, limiting the blood flow to their hands, and force them to release the knife.

_Help me reset and we’ll see what kind of person I really am._

You search their eyes for any glimpse or hope of the kid you knew. You only found murderous rage and contempt. Chara sneers at you and spits in your face.

_Promise me that if I do something horrible you’ll take my soul and not let me come back again._

You choke under the weight of your sorrow as you raise up a hand to deliver the final blow. Breathing heavy you feel your magic build within your palm. You inhale a shaky breath.

_Promise me._

The magic dissipates and your body convulses with misery, “i-i’m sorry kid.” you whisper as your hand falls to your side, “i can’t.”

Chara smirks and punches you in the cheekbone with their now free hand, “What a shame.” You fall to the side and before you can get up Chara is now straddled over you, using their knees to pin down your arms, knife shining in the light. Chara gives you a sweet, pitying smile for a moment, but then throws back their head and lets out an insane laugh. Their head flops down, hair blown across their face, their eyes were wide and glowing red, unblinking. Their snarl grows larger as they lift up the blade, “Because I can!”

The blade is driven down through your sternum, shattering your ribcage. You scream in pain as your ribs fall apart, clattering against your spine. Chara snorts and twirls the blade as they stand, “You really are an idiot.” Chara smugly saunters off towards Waterfall.

Your left arm clutches your broken ribcage and you reach out your right hand to stop them. The tips of your phalanges start to chip off and you see your fingers slowly turning to dust. You tuck your hand into your jacket as the numbness slowly crawls up your arm. You really didn’t want to see that. You rest your skull in the snow and try to focus on your shallow breaths.

Chara doesn’t even turn around, “You threw away your only chance at happiness.” Laughing again, Chara tosses the knife up in the air and catches it over and over as they smugly walk away.

Their form disappears in the snow drifting about, and you’re dimly aware that you can no longer feel your slippers on your feet. The numbness is about halfway up your radius of your arm, and has reached the kneecaps of your legs. You moan and feel the world around you start to fade and you let yourself fade with it. A flash of color wakens you.

Papyrus’ cape.

You wheeze, and crawl on your elbows toward it, dragging what’s left of your legs behind you. The pain is slowly disappearing as you feel yourself approaching the end. You clutch his cape in your hand and pull it close to you, “hey papyrus, i’m heading to grillby’s.” you chuckle weakly and a tear drips onto the cape, “do you want anything?”

With a sigh your body dissolves into dust.


	19. No Mercy Ending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alternate version I thought of when writing Genocide ending. This one the reader character remembers all time lines (sort of). I called it No Mercy because while the player in the game killed everyone they met, it wasn't as extreme or murdery as a Genocide run. I feel that if the reader remembered everything but weren't strong enough to stop Chara this time then they'd regret their actions.
> 
> Chapter is also written from sans' perspective.
> 
> Also starts off the same as Genocide did, but changes when they fight Papyrus.

It’s been too long.

You pace back and forth, barely hearing the crunch of snow underfoot.

It’s been a week. They’ve never taken this long to come back.

Absentmindedly you bring your hands up to your mouth and warm them with your breath. You didn’t really feel the cold, but it was something you always watched the human do.

Suddenly, a door creaks open and you inhale a sharp breath and teleport to the trees.

You were eager to see them, but…

Also afraid.

You silently watch from the trees as they emerge from the ruins, shy and shivering. Their eyes dart around widely as they tentatively make their way down the path. Your chest thrums wildly but you try to remain calm. You don’t want to get your hopes up quite yet.

They just passed the tree branch strewn across the path. Ok. First test. You’re having a hard time breathing as you approach the stick and stomp down, snapping it in half. You teleport back to the shadows as the human whirls around flailing their arms wildly in surprise.

You smile.

They finally reached the bridge and you rubbed your hands together and used your magic to stop them. They seemed confused and tense but not angry.

That was good.

Your chest is thrumming much more rapidly as you make your way toward them. You don’t want to teleport this time, you want to take as much time as possible. You were ready, but also not so ready to see them again.

Reaching their back you brace yourself and say the line you’ve said countless times before, “human. don’t you know how to greet a new pal?”

The human gasps a sharp breath, but you won’t let them turn around quite yet.

You inhale slowly, and slowly release your hold on your magic, “turn around and shake my hand.” As they turn you take a chance to quickly glance down at their hands to make sure there were no joy buzzers.

The human grasps your hand and the melody of artificial flatulence echoes throughout the air. Once the sounds subside you can’t help but start to laugh, “heheh…the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. it’s always funny.“

The human giggles and you feel more at ease. “That was a good one. Freaked me out and fart noises. Perfect prank.”

You winked, “it’s ice to meet ya kid. my name’s sans. normally i patrol the forest lookin’ for humans but i don’t feel like working today.”

The human seemed oddly ok with all of this and nodded politely. Well, maybe this version was just a bit braver than others. They didn’t always have a panic attack every time they emerged from the ruins.

Still, you felt slightly unsettled. You kept a careful eye socket on them as they went through Papyrus’ puzzles, laughing gleefully and seeming to have a lot of fun. You clenched your fists whenever they stepped close to your brother.

After they made it passed the Gauntlet of Deadly Terror you casually strolled up to them, “nice one kid. you’ll be facing my brother soon.” you watched them carefully, “make sure you understand blue attacks.”

They swallowed a bit nervously at the mention of fighting Papyrus. Maybe you were being a bit too suspicious. They cleared their throat, “Do-do I really have to fight him?” their eyes were wide.

“yeah, but i’m sure you’ll be fine. he’s not dangerous, even when he tries to be.” you try to comfort the kid with a smile.

They chuckle halfheartedly and wave goodbye, walking stiffly through Snowdin.

You squint your eye sockets. There’s nothing wrong with being overly cautious. You pull out your cell and dial Papyrus.

“YES? WHAT IS IT BROTHER?”

“hey bro do you think you could just let the human by?”

“WHAT?! HOW COULD YOU SUGGEST SUCH A THING! IT IS MY SWORN DUTY THAT I SWORE TO MYSELF THAT I WOULD CAPTURE ANY HUMAN THAT CAME BY.”

“i know bro i just think it’d be better if you didn’t fight them.”

Papyrus sighed, “BROTHER THIS IS MY CHANCE TO PROVE TO UNDYNE I DESERVE TO BE A PART OF THE ROYAL GUARD! SHE’LL NEVER LET ME IN IF I’M JUST A LAZYBONES AND LET A HUMAN ESCAPE.”

You groan, “alright fine how about letting me face the human this time-“

“SORRY BROTHER I MUST GO THE HUMAN HAS ARRIVED!”Papyrus chatters excitedly and hangs up.

You had a really bad feeling in your bones.

You teleport yourself to the field of snow and the thrumming in your chest stops. The human is smiling wickedly at Papyrus with a blade clenched in their fist. You watched as their body fluidly dodged his attacks and the glint of metal snaked towards his jaw.

“no!” you shout, as the blade attempts to lodge itself underneath Papyrus’ jawbone. You wave your hand and a bone knocks the kid away. It looks at you and hisses in anger.

“SANS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?” Papyrus seemed confused and slightly upset, “IT’S NOT HONORABLE TO ATTACK THE HUMAN TWO TO ONE.”

He wasn’t keeping and eye on the human and you knew that would lead to a bad time. Their eyes gleamed red as they lunged at his unprotected spine. You ran forward and slapped him on the radius, “fine, whatever. tag i’m in.” You tackle the kid to the ground and try to pin them down but they squirm away. The knife slices through the air and cuts your sleeve. You feel your magic build within you, and you scowl, “not cool kid. this was my favorite jacket.” The kid just sneers at you.

Papyrus walks towards you, “BROTHER I DON’T UNDERSTAND-“

You head whips around and you stare him down with your burning blue eye, “go home papyrus! i got this.” It came out a bit sharper than you wanted. You hate yourself when you see the hurt on his face, but you really needed him to be as far away from this kid as possible.

You turn away from him, not wanting to see the tears well up in his eyes and run down his cheekbones, “FINE I’LL GO HOME. BUT YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO BE SO MEAN.” You hear his footsteps retreating behind you.

The kid watches hungrily after him, and makes a move toward him. You shoot out your right hand and a wall of bones erupts from the ground, “nu uh kid. your fight is with me now.”

The kid straightens slowly, eyes void of emotion, “Fine.” They raised the blade and lunged for you. They zigzagged through all your bone attacks and swiped the blade up toward your chin. You were able to teleport away again, but the damn kid sliced through the front of your jacket.

You put a hand to your sternum, panicked. Good, just the jacket, but you don’t have time to feel relieved. The kid appears behind you and launches for your spinal cord. Startled you smacked them aside with a bone. Their body tumbled and fell a few feet away in the snow.

You gaze at the body, chest rising and falling with each breath, but they just lay there in the snow.

_Help me reset and we’ll see what kind of person I really am._

You cautiously head towards the kid and summon a few GasterBlasters to your side.

_Promise me that if I do something horrible you’ll take my soul and not let me come back again._

The kid looks dazed, and is staring up at nothing in particular.

You gaze down at the kid, chest thrumming unevenly. You stop just a foot away from them, and are trying to decide what to do. Could you really keep your promise? They just laid there in the snow. Eyes unmoving and blinking slowly.

Why did everyone force you to make such difficult promises?

Abruptly, the kid’s body jerked and they spun around, using their leg to take out your ankles and cause you to fall to the ground. Without hesitation they leapt on top of you, knife aimed for your eye socket.

 _Promise me_.

Eyes glowing red and staring deep within your eye sockets, mouth twisted in a hateful sneer, the kid raised their arm and prepared to drive it through your skull.

With an anguished breath the GasterBlaster fired the kid straight through the chest, and their body sagged and fell into the snow, knife dropped and forgotten.

“oh, kid.” You whisper numbly, as tears poured from your eye sockets. The life in their eyes faded and you stroke their hair. “i-i’m so sorry…”

Their body glows and you see a small red heart rise from it. Their soul. You reach your hand out to it, and it floats towards you. You hug it toward your sternum, and your body is filled with warmth and power. Your chest thrums again, and it’s accompanied by a tiny little heartbeat.

 _‘Oh god sans! I’m so sorry!’_ A small voice in your head cries.

You clasp your hands over your sternum and smile through your tears, “it’s ok kid,” you murmur, “it’s ok.”

_‘I-I almost killed Papyrus! sans I-I oh god not again!'_

“shh…kid it’s ok.” This unexpected surprise helps ease the pain, you hadn’t lost the kid, “i was able to keep my promise, wasn’t i?”

The voice still sounds distraught, but isn’t crying anymore. _‘Yeah, yeah you did.’_

You smile to yourself, “we can get this figured out. two heads are better than one right?”

The voice groans, _‘Yeah but one of these heads is a bonehead, and the other-‘_

“don’t finish that.” you knew the kid was still upset, but you didn’t want them to blame themselves anymore. You could feel their agony and regret within you. You just hoped they could feel your love and forgiveness too.

You gently lift their body and carry it further into the forest, not wanting Papyrus to stumble upon it. As you walk, yes walk, (teleporting seemed inappropriate right now), the kid told you about Chara and how their body felt like it moved on it’s own and Chara clouded their mind. Their voice wavered as they explained that Chara manipulated their perceptions and made them feel afraid. Afraid and alone. A shudder runs down your spine as the kid’s memories and emotions wash over your body. Chara and Flowey had convinced them that killing was the only way to survive.

You stop at a small clearing deep within the forest and you’re certain Papyrus will never wander this far out. You use your magic to dig a grave, and the kid is silent as you work. You still feel their presence within you, and it’s comforting. You remove your jacket and wrap the body in it, and gently lower them into the ground. With your magic the grave is reburied and framed with bones. You kneel down beside it and trace your fingertips around the fresh dirt.

“heh heh, i hope this is ok. it’s the best i could do.” You feel a little embarrassed at your handiwork, considering they watched you lay them to rest.

 _‘It’s very sweet…thank you…’_ The kid’s voice still sounds sad and distant.

“alright kid,” you say as you stand up and dust off your hands, “we should get home before papyrus gets bonely.”

The kid groans, _‘The worst part about this is I can feel the set up coming in your mind before you say it.’_

You chuckle to yourself, and uh the kid, “well that’s not cool kid, you didn’t tele me that. now i gotta work harder on my de-liver-y.”

Another groan, _‘Please just stop now.’_

Your steps feel a little lighter because despite the complaints, you could tell the kid was feeling slightly better. And that’s all you wanted.

You finally make it home, you walk through the front door, and narrowly dodge a very concerned and upset Papyrus tackle. “hey bro.”

“SANS! WHAT WAS GOING ON!? WHERE’S THE HUMAN?! WHERE’S YOUR JACKET?! I DON’T APPRECIATE YOU INTERRUPTING MY BATTLE AND PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT TAGGING IN IS BECAUSE I-“

He stops short as you hug him tightly, “sorry bro, i didn’t mean to upset you. don’t worry about it.” You pull away and smile at him, “the kid went on vacation and i let them borrow my jacket.”

His eye sockets squint suspiciously at you and he thinks for a moment. Eventually he sighs and says, “I FEEL LIKE YOU’RE NOT BEING COMPLETELY HONEST WITH ME BUT I WILL LET IT GO FOR NOW. GO GET CLEANED UP FOR DINNER.” He pushes you towards the bathroom, but as you open the door he mumbles, “HEY SANS…”

“yeah bro?” You ask curiously.

“YOU DON’T HAVE TO TELL ME…WHAT HAPPENED…UNTIL YOU’RE READY BUT…YOU LOOK DIFFERENT. I’M NOT SURE IF IT’S A GOOD DIFFERENT, BUT…” he strikes his fist to his sternum and seems to grow in confidence, “BUT! I THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL BE HERE FOR YOU WHEN YOU NEED MY ASSISTANCE!”

You smirk, “thanks bro.”

He just waves you away, “HURRY UP! THE SPAGHETTI IS GETTING COLD.”

You let the water run over your hands and absentmindedly glance up at the mirror and gasp. Your left eye was still glowing, but it was different.

Now, it glowed purple.


	20. Pacifist Ending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty last ending! Yay! Reader remembers all time lines again but this time comes back as a stronger person and is able to accept (but does still feel bad) about past negative timelines. As with all ending chapters it starts pretty similar from sans' POV (I would say something like it's because you have to play a game so many times and lots of things are the same but have small changes but let's be real...I'm kinda lazy and didn't know how to start 4 chapters totally different heh heh).
> 
> It switches to the reader's POV shortly afterward.
> 
> Also sorry it took so long. I uh wrote this a few days ago and um...was kind of afraid to post it cuz so many ppl were looking forward to it. I hope I didn't disappoint!

*******************************Sans POV

It’s been too long.

You pace back and forth, barely hearing the crunch of snow underfoot. 

It’s been a month. They’ve never taken this long to come back.

Absentmindedly you bring your hands up to your mouth and warm them with your breath. You didn’t really feel the cold, but it was something you always watched the human do. It was a comforting thought.

Suddenly, a door creaks open and you inhale a sharp breath and teleport to the trees.

You were eager to see them, but…

Also afraid.

You silently watch from the trees as they emerge from the ruins, shy and shivering. Their eyes dart around widely as they tentatively make their way down the path. Your chest thrums wildly but you try to remain calm. You don’t want to get your hopes up quite yet.

They just passed the tree branch strewn across the path. Ok. First test. You’re having a hard time breathing as you approach the stick and stomp down, snapping it in half. You teleport back to the shadows as the human whirls around flailing their arms attempting to karate chop the air. They must’ve spun too fast because they slipped and fell on their butt in the snow.

You chuckle, that’s a good sign. Your clumsy ninja was here. The kid quickly rolls in a somersault and stands up, arms thrown in a victory pose. Nice recovery, kid.

They finally reached the bridge and you rubbed your hands together and used your magic to stop them. They seemed curious.

That was good.

Your chest is thrumming much more rapidly as you make your way toward them. You don’t want to teleport this time, you want to take as much time as possible. You were ready, but also not so ready to see them again.

Reaching their back you brace yourself and say the line you’ve said countless times before, “Human. Don’t you know-“

The human disappears.

“what?” The thrumming in your chest stops and you stare at imprints in the snow that marked where your friend had once stood. You feel your brow bones furrow in confusion. 

Kid where did you go?

Don’t tell me you’re…

Gone.

Your chest thrums unevenly as the unwelcome thought creeps into your mind. No. No the kid can’t be gone! You take a step toward the bridge. Maybe they were hiding underneath it? Unlikely since underneath it was a long way down. Oh god I hope they didn’t fall.

More unwelcome thoughts swirl through your mind when-

THWACK!!

Something cold smacks into the back of your skull. Slowly, stiffly, you move your hand to the back of your head and scrape some snow off your skull. You hear…

laughter?

****************************************************Reader POV

“Oh man I got you so good! You should see your face!” You clutch your sides with laughter. Poor sans just stares at you completely bewildered.

“what?” he says again in a small voice.

You wipe a tear from your eye, “Don’t you remember? I told you when a monster and a human share affection,” you wink “sometimes their souls can resonate and they can share their power. I just borrowed one of your short cuts.”

He just continues to stare, half turned toward you, hand raised as the remains of the snowball you chucked trickle through his fingertips.

You roll your eyes, “You know if you don’t quit staring your face will freeze like that.”

That seemed to thaw him out a bit. His glowing eyes blinked a few times and he tentatively took a few steps towards you. “is that really you?” he whispered shyly as he stopped just a foot away from you.

“Yes.” you whisper back and chuckle.

His eyes seemed shifty. You could tell he was having a hard time with wanting to believe it was really you this time. You don’t blame him. It’s been a very long time since you’ve been…well…you.

He tilts his head to the side, “any other voices?”

You decide to toy with him a bit more and chew your lip and stroke your chin thoughtfully, “Hm, well. No one that shouldn’t already be there. Like Marty, Eduardo, and Lynda.”

He stares blankly at you.

“I’m kidding! Sheesh lighten up.” You smack him lightly on the arm and he seems to relax. “Lynda changed her name to Charlotte like 2 years ago.”

His eyes narrow, “that’s not funny kid.”

You smirk, “It’s a little funny.”

The lights shined with concern, “but you really are…ok?”

You nodded, “Yes, I’m ok. I remember…well…everything…I stayed at Toriel’s for a bit longer to come to terms with everything. I still feel sad and ashamed for what all the other me’s did. But I’m determined to never let that happen again.”

He smiles softly, “good. i was worried you wouldn’t come back.” You blush and he moves forward to embrace you.

“Hey whoa hey! I’m not that kind of person to just give myself to some random skeleton I met in an underground magical snowy forest.”

He throws his arms to his sides and huffs, “you’re unbelievable.”

You had no idea teasing him could be so much fun, “Nah I’m the type of person to fall for the second skeleton I meet in an underground magical snowy forest.”

“you’re not funny kid.”

“Maybe that’s what we were missing! Maybe I’m supposed to be the funny one and you’re the one who’s supposed to be sassy and have a major crush on a ske-“ Uh oh. You ignore the heat rising in your cheeks from your slip up and march decisively for the bridge.

“i’m sorry what was that?” You can hear sans’ smug smile in his voice.

“Nothing.”

“nah i’m sure it was something. i’m supposed to have a major crush on a ske-?”

You made it across the bridge and your ears are burning despite the cold. You turn back to sans and see his shoulders shaking slightly with laughter, “I don’t know sans! A…um…a sketch!”

He seems perplexed, “a sketch? really kid?”

“I don’t know sans! You're the one with crushes on weird things not me!” You feel more flustered watching his whole body shaking as he laughs at you. You open your mouth to say more.

“SANS! WHERE ARE YOU!” Papyrus shouts from the distance.

Embarrassment temporarily forgotten, you dig a slip of paper from your pocket and hand it to sans. “Here, give this to me when Papyrus shows up?”

“uh…ok?” He slips it into his jacket.

“YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO RECALIBRATE YOUR PUZZLES!” Papyrus was so focused on his brother that he missed you completely. 

You cough politely, “Ahem.”

“ONE MOMENT HUMAN I MUST TALK TO MY BROTHER!” He freezes for a moment as it clicks, “ACK! A HUMAN! SANS! WE MUST CAPTURE THEM!”

You puff out your chest and try to mimic your best cartoon villain laugh, “Ha ha! You’ll never capture me! I am a master of puzzle solving! Ha ha ha!” Papyrus gasps in surprise and you wink at sans to signal him to pass the paper to you.

He retrieves it.

Wads it up.

Chucks it.

It smacks you in the forehead and falls on the ground.

Everyone just stares at it for a moment.

Damn skeleton and his stupid little smirk.

May as well continue on with this cartoon theme. Dramatically you raise your forearm to your forehead, “Oh what a world! To be defeated by a-“ you collapse to the ground, angling your body so Papyrus can see the paper as you unravel it, ignoring sans chuckling behind you, “a extremely difficult puzzle!”

“IT’S JUNIOR JUMBLE!” He exclaims and you try to hide your smile.

You lay the paper across your chest and sigh, “Woe is me I have been defeated.” You raised your hand toward sans. “Take me away!”

Papyrus’ jaw is hanging open in complete awe and adoration for his brother. He watches sans stroll casually towards you and is practically jumping up and down. sans stops at your side, and you expect him to grab your hand to help you up.

He grabs your ankle.

And starts to drag you.

“Hey!”

“shut up prisoner.” He looks back at you with a mischievous grin. You stick out your tongue and the grin widens.

“OH MY GOD! SANS! YOU CAPTURED A HUMAN! YOU WILL BE SO POPULAR! I’M GONNA GO CALL UNDYNE RIGHT NOW!” Papyrus runs up to join sans’ side he drags you a few more steps.

“no.” sans says simply.

Papyrus makes a pouty face and thankfully they stop to chat some more, “BUT SANS!”

“no. i captured the human so i get to decide what we do with them. you can have the next one.”

Papyrus kicks the snow, “FINE. I WON’T CALL UNDYNE YET. WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WITH THE HUMAN?”

“you’re gonna go home and make spaghetti and me you and the human are gonna eat it and watch a movie.”

“WHAT?” Papyrus looks at you, leg still up in the air with ankle firmly in sans grasp. You shrug as best you can on your back in the snow.

“that’s what i decided.”

Papyrus still seemed a bit unsure and wasn’t willing to leave his brother, who for all he knew, was completely insane.

“Yeah that’s what friends do.” you chime in.

Papyrus glances back at you thoughtfully. “FRIENDS?”

You nod and smile sweetly, “Yeah, friends.”

His eyes light up and he twirls and claps for joy, “WOWIE THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING! I WILL GO MAKE DINNER FOR OUR NEW FRIEND!” And he ran off to do just that.

sans continues another step and you groan, “You’re not really dragging me all the way to Snowdin are you?”

He turns back at you with a gleam in his eye, “i dunno. i thought you said you didn’t fall for any guy you met.” and gestured to the discarded paper in the snow.

You rolled your eyes, “We both know you’re just a lazybones, and it’s a long way to Snowdin.” You tug your leg, but it’s held firm in his grasp, “I can walk too.”

He drops your ankle, “i have a better idea,” he kneels down in front of you and gestures to his back, “hop on.”

“You-you’re joking right?”

He chuckles, “c’mon just humer me.”

You smile to yourself and shyly wrap your arms around his neck and gasp as he loops his hands under your knees and stands up. You nuzzle your face into the hood of his jacket to warm your nose form the cold, and close your eyes.

He leans his head back, “this ok?”

“Mhm.” you sigh peacefully.

His thumbs stroke the outsides of your knees as he continues down the path. After a moment, a thought comes to mind.

“Hey, sans?”

“yeah?”

“I’m impressed. You’re really putting some backbone into it. Carrying me and all.”

He chuckles lightly, “careful kid.”

“What?” you nuzzle into his hood again, “Don’t give me that frosty look. I know you like bad jokes.”

“i’m warnin’ ya. if you don’t leave them to me, you’ll have a bad time.”

“Don’t be like that! All we need is some-body to lean on!”

He sighed, “kid i’m not even from the surface and i got that reference.” his hands move down the back of your knees, forcing your legs up, and continues down until he lifts your ankles up in the air, causing your grip to slip and you fall back into the snow. “i warned ya.” He starts to walk away.

“sans! Wait!” You’re sitting in the snow slightly annoyed but not buying his bluff.

He disappears.

He’s still bluffing.

Maybe?

You scowl at the snow and start to get up, but he abruptly appears next to you.

He smirks down at you, “c’mon kid. i know we just met and all.” he winks, “but you know me better than that.” He scoops you up in his arms, and presses his forehead against yours, “i’d never leave you behind.” he whispers. He tilts his head to the side and leans forward but stops just a breath away from your lips, “ah, sorry.” He chuckles shyly,pulls away, and sets you on the ground but still holds you close to his ribcage. You can feel his chest thrum in quick and erratic vibrations against your body, much like how your heart is beating right now.

You wonder if he can feel it too.

Impulsively, you grab the back of his skull and pull him to you and press a kiss to his teeth. His bones rattle and a moan full of love, relief, and joy escapes from between his jaws. He kisses you again as his hands move along your back, one settled in the small of your back, and the other angled between your shoulder blades. Holding you close to him. You continue to stoke the back of his skull, and use your other hand to trace down his sternum.

“SANS! WHAT IS TAKING YOU SO LONG! DINNER WILL BE COLD SOON!” Papyrus came rushing back, and you jump.

“heh sorry bro the human, uh-“ He pulled away from you shyly.

You loop your arms around his neck, “I got away and then I captured him!”

“WHAT?! HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN?!”

sans just shrugs in his classic what-can-ya-do? way.

Papyrus just sighs and shakes his head, “SANS YOU’RE SUCH A BONEHEAD.”

You giggle and peck sans on the cheekbone making him blush, and release him, “Yeah but he’s my bonehead.” You squeeze his boney hand in yours, and he weaves his boney fingers between your fleshy ones and squeezes back. He gazes at you with a fuzzy, affectionate glow in his eyes.

Papyrus is completely mystified, “SANS!” sans jumps a little as his brother’s shout snaps him back to reality, “WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?!”

“Oh, we’re dating now.” You smile at Papyrus.

“WOWIE! MY BROTHER IS TRULY AMAZING TO HAVE ALREADY LEVELED UP BEYOND FRIENDZONE SO QUICKLY!” He seemed proud of his brother for a moment, but then a flash of insecurity crossed his face, “BUT UM, ARE WE STILL FRIENDS HUMAN?”

You release sans’ hand and walk over to Papyrus, “Of course we are Paps! We’ll always be friends. Pinky promise.” You hold out your pinky to him.

“WOWIE!” He exclaims again excitedly as he loops his gloved pinky around yours, “IS THAT MY NICKNAME? I’VE HEARD OF THOSE. ONLY THE BEST OF FRIENDS GIVE EACH OTHER NICKNAMES!”

sans finally joins the party, “alright enough of this mushy stuff let’s get inside i’m freezing my ass off.”

“sans you don’t have an ass.” You squint at him.   
“i guess it already froze off. c’mon, kid, you must be chilled to the bone.”

Papyrus groaned, “SANS! ENOUGH OF YOUR TERRIBLE JOKES YOU’RE GOING TO SCARE MY FRIEND AWAY.”

“No, Papyrus he’s right. I wouldn’t want you guys to end up as a couple of bonesicles out here.”

He groaned again, “I CAN UNDERSTAND WHY YOU AND HE ARE DATING NOW. I’LL BE AT THE HOUSE.” He didn’t look like he could run away fast enough.

You walk hand in hand with sans to Snowdin, pausing now and then to reminisce about memories or share a kiss. Hm, it might be a while till you actually make it to Snowdin. But that’s ok. You turn to sans and give his hand a little squeeze and he gazes at you. His smile seems so easy and full of hope.

This will be the last reset.

The love glowing in sans’ eyes fills you with determination.


End file.
